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( 



REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS 



Ralph De Sola, Federal Writers’ Project. 


GIGANTIC GALAPAGOS TORTOISE 




REPTILES 

AND 

AMPHIBIANS 

AN ILLUSTRATED NATURAL HISTORY 

\ Prepared by 

WORKERS OF THE FEDERAL WRITERS’ PROJECT OF 
THE WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION 
IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK 


With Decorations by 

The WPA Federal Art Project in the City of New York 

SPONSORED BY THE GUILDS’ COMMITTEE FOR 
FEDERAL WRITERS’ PUBLICATIONS, INC. 



JUNIOR PRESS BOOKS 

ALB E RTXWHITM AN 

4 CO 

CHICAGO 

1939 





COPYRIGHT, 1939 , BY THE GUILDS’ COMMITTEE FOR 
FEDERAL WRITERS’ PUBLICATIONS, INC. 


(/ q 


Franklin P. Adams, Bruce Bliven, Herschel Brickell, Van Wyck 
Brooks, Henry S. Canby, Malcolm Cowley, Morris Ernst, 
John Erskine, Clifton Fadiman, Lewis Gannett, Travis 
Hoke, Rockwell Kent, Alfred Kreymborg, Louis 
Kronenberger, Burns Mantle, Burton Rascoe, 

Ralph Thompson, Joseph B. Oilman, Irita 
Van Doren, Mark Van Doren. 


WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION 

F. C. HARRINGTON, Administrator 
FLORENCE S. KERR, Assistant Administrator 
HENRY G. ALSBERG, Director of Federal Writers' Project 
HAROLD STRAUSS, Director, Federal Writers Project in New York City 



PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
BY J. J. LITTLE AND IVES COMPANY, NEW YORK 


MAY 29 1939 

©ClA 1 29894 




EDITORIAL STAFF 


For the Federal Writers’ Project, New York City: 

Ralph De Sola, Editor 

Staff: Harry Davis, Milton Friedman, Edward Malkin, Ralph Manheim, 
Walter Relis, Joseph Rosner, Joseph Sigrist. 

Associates: Alexis Chern, William F. Craig, Robert Edwards, Paul Freed- 
berg, Sydney W. Rutner, James Suydam. 

For the Federal Art Project, New York City: 

Ad. F. Reinhardt. 
























































































































FOREWORD 


Reptiles and amphibians are perhaps the most engaging of all animals, and 
the least appreciated. Man has made friends with most of his other fellow 
animals. Dogs, cats and birds have long been his household companions; 
he rides on the backs of horses, camels and elephants; cows eat his hay 
in exchange for their milk; he admires the sleek beauty of the lions and 
polar bears in the zoo; and in the evening he even chuckles at movies which 
have as actors animated and likable representations of mice, ducks, pigs 
and hens. 

Yet, to date, very few people have had many kind words to say for 
the snakes and other reptiles or even for their distant cousins, the toads, 
frogs and kindred amphibians. Ever since the Garden of Eden most of us 
have gone on the assumption that creatures gliding on their bellies (which 
some of them do, of course, merely because they have no feet) must be 
inherently evil and frightening. 

Actually, there is almost no ground for such an attitude on our part. 
Some snakes and a few crocodiles will attack man when provoked or fright¬ 
ened, but so will almost all the larger animals; even, under certain condi¬ 
tions, such timid creatures as deer and mice. 

As a matter of fact, “snake stories,” no matter how entertaining they 
may seem, usually should be classed with “fish stories” as far as their 
veracity is concerned. And this is a pity, for the true stories of the serpents 
are frequently even more fascinating than the fictional. 

There is no truth, for instance, in the story of the “hoop snake” which 
puts its own tail in its mouth and rolls briskly downhill; but it is true that 
there is a boa so timid that it frequently rolls itself into a ball, which can 
be rolled along the ground or even tossed in the air. 

It isn’t true, either, that some snakes are able to milk cows; but there 
actually is an even more astonishing reptile, the tuatara, which has three 
eyes, the third set neatly in the top of its head. 


Of course, there are snakes and crocodiles which cannot by any stretch 
of the imagination be regarded as house pets. Some of them are dangerous 
— almost as dangerous when frightened or annoyed as a mountain lion, for 
instance, or a grizzly bear. 

But for every venomous snake which is likely to attack a man there 
are hundreds of reptiles which befriend human beings by eating mice and 
insects. Some, such as the king snake and the black snake go even further 
by devouring poisonous reptiles. Some of these gentler snakes can even 
be trained to have confidence in friendly human beings, and to regard a 
garden or a lawn as their protected home, much as do pet toads. 

It has been the aim of this book to sift the facts from the fanciful 
stories of the reptiles and amphibians. The scientific story of these cold¬ 
blooded creatures is seldom as fantastic as the one based on superstition; 
but it is frequently even more readable and exciting. 

All of the living representative reptiles and amphibians — croco- 
dilians, tuataras, lizards, snakes, turtles, coecilians, salamanders, newts, 
frogs and toads — have been included in this account. Brief introductions to 
these two classes and their orders precede each chapter of the book and serve 
to epitomize and classify the species. Unless otherwise stated, the dimen¬ 
sions given in the text are average — not maximum. 

It is sincerely hoped that our readers, after studying this book with 
its many photographs, drawings, maps and charts, will be in a position to 
assure others that the majority of reptiles and amphibians are peaceful, 
quiet, useful and inoffensive creatures, ill deserving the evil reputation 
which ignorance of their true nature has given them and certainly meriting 
man’s protection and conservation. 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

The following persons and their institutions cooperated to a con¬ 
siderable extent in the production of the book. They are in nowise respon¬ 
sible, of course, for editorial opinions, or possible errors that may have 
crept into the text. We extend to them our thanks and appreciation for their 
institutional services which went far to provide this work with its wealth 
of illustrations. 

viii 


Dr. Roy Chapman Andrews, Director of the American Museum of 
Natural History; Dr. W. Reid Blair, Director of the New York Zoological 
Park; F. W. Bond of the Zoological Society of London; Dr. C. M. Breder, Jr., 
Director of the New York Aquarium; Walter H. Chute, Director of the 
John G. Shedd Aquarium of Chicago; Dr. P. E. P. Deraniyagala of the 
Colombo Museum, Ceylon; Henry E. Ditzel, Advertising Manager of Sharp 
and Dohme; George L. Dowden of San Gabriel, California; Dr. Howard 
K. Gloyd, Director of the Lincoln Park Zoological Gardens in Chicago; 
Dr. H. Hediger of the Naturhistorisches Museum, Basel, Switzerland; W. 
Lincoln Highton, photographer, Works Progress Administration; Carl Kauf- 
feld, Curator of Reptiles, Staten Island Zoological Society; L. M. Klauber, 
President, American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists; Henry R. 
Luce, Editor, Time and Life; Dr. William M. Mann, Director of the National 
Zoological Park; E. A. Mcllhenny of Avery Island, Louisiana; Hans Stecher, 
Curator of Reptiles of the Staten Island Museum of Arts and Sciences; Carol 
Stryker, Director of the Staten Island Zoological Society; C. V. M. Sutcliffe, 
of the faculty of Oglethorpe University; and Gifford Wood, Advertising 
Manager of Becton, Dickinson. 

Some photographs were made in a few of the foregoing institutions 
by members of the Federal Writers’ Project. In such instances the institu¬ 
tion’s initials appear under the illustration: (CPM)—Central Park Me¬ 
nagerie, (NYA)—New York Aquarium, (NYZP)—New York Zoological 
Park, (NZP)—National Zoological Park, (SIZ)—Staten Island Zoo. 

We are especially grateful to those well-known naturalists and herpe¬ 
tologists, Dr. Raymond L. Ditmars, Curator of Mammals and Reptiles of 
the New York Zoological Park, and Clifford H. Pope, one-time Assistant 
Curator of Herpetology of the American Museum of Natural History, who 
undertook to read and check our manuscript. Their many authoritative sug¬ 
gestions and comments have been incorporated in the printed text. 


IX 







CONTENTS 


REPTILES 

CROCODILIANS .21 

Alligators. 24 

Caymans.. 

Crocodiles.34 

Gavials ........... 42 

THE TUATARA .45 

LIZARDS .51 

Geckos.54 

Skinks.58 

Old and New World Lizards.64 

Worm-like Lizards ........ 70 

Monitors. 74 

Poisonous Lizards ......... 80 

Iguanas.82 

Agamas.90 

Chameleons . 94 

SNAKES .99 

Worm-like Snakes.106 

Constrictors . 108 

Harmless Snakes . . . . . . . . . 114 

Sea Snakes ..128 

Rear-fanged Poisonous Snakes.130 

Front-fanged Poisonous Snakes.134 

Movable-fanged Poisonous Snakes.144 


xi 











TURTLES . 161 

Snapping Turtles 1^6 

Musk and Mud Turtles ...••••• 1^2 

Water Turtles ... 1^6 

Land Tortoises.186 

Sea Turtles.196) 

Snake-necked Turtles 200 

Soft-shelled Turtles . .202 

AMPHIBIANS 

WORM-LIKE AMPHIBIANS .209 

SALAMANDERS AND NEWTS .213 

Giant Salamanders .214 

American Salamanders.216 

Newts .218 

“Congo Eels”.218 

Blind Salamanders ........ 220 

Proteans .......... 220 

Sirens .221 

FROGS AND TOADS .223 

Primitive Toads ......... 224 

Tongueless Toads . 226 

Spade-foot Toads .. 230 

True Toads .......... 232 

Tree Frogs .235 

Typical Frogs.236 


Index 


245 





















REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS 




REPTILES 

(Crocodilians, The Tuatara, Lizards, Snakes and Turtles) 

“Reptile” is still a horrid word to many despite the fact that comparatively 
few species are deadly, and that most of these do not attack man unless 
provoked. Long popular association of the word with such adjectives as 
“slimy,” “deadly” and “poisonous” has endowed reptiles with a largely 
undeserved notoriety. 

It may be less dramatic, but much more truthful, to divest them in 
part of their sinister reputation, for few of the five thousand living species 
are cause for human worry. For example, if one were to meet all twenty-five 
living species of crocodilians, most of them would sidle out of the way; 
the encounter with the remaining few might, of course, prove embarrassing. 
Only two of the twenty-five hundred species of lizards are known to be 
poisonous, and these “Gila monsters,” less than two feet long, have great 
difficulty in inflicting fatal injury upon a human. Snakes, of which there 
are approximately twenty-three hundred species, are mostly harmless; 
poison-injecting serpents dangerous to man comprise less than ten per cent 
of the total, and there are probably less than six species of constrictors 
capable of constricting man with their muscular coils. Turtles, including 
the greatly feared snappers, rarely inflict wounds and are about the most 
innocuous members of the reptile class. The single rhynchocephalian, the 
tuatara of New Zealand, molests no one and is amiable enough to share its 
burrow with nesting sea birds. 

It is generally uninformed persons who circulate the fanciful yarns 
about snakes milking cows or rolling downhill in hoop fashion with the 
ends of their tails clutched in their mouths and, finally, swallowing them¬ 
selves whole by working their jaws up from the tail. 

From the viewpoint of man, reptiles play a useful role in maintaining 

15 


the balance of nature. The harmless and unoffending snake which feeds 
on troublesome insects and rodents is frequently a victim of ignorance 
and unreasoning fear. 

Reptiles provide excellent leathers for fancy luggage and shoes. Turtle 
soup and terrapin stew have long been acknowledged delicacies, and in 
recent years rattlesnake meat has been making a bid for popular approval. 

Jewelers and furniture inlayers use the shell of the hawksbill turtle 
for its decorative quality. 

Primitive tribes still use reptiles in preparing charms, love potions, 
medicines and musical instruments, as well as for food. Salted crocodile 
tails, turtle eggs, fried lizard bones, and snake hearts are alleged to stimu¬ 
late the love instinct. 

Reptiles occupy an evolutionary position between the original inhabi¬ 
tants of the sea and those of the land and air. They might be said to be 
the children of the fishes and amphibians and the parents of the birds and 
mammals. 

The genealogy of the modern reptiles goes back for more than one 
hundred and fifty million years to Carboniferous times, when they appear 
to have evolved from certain amphibians. In the Permian period the reptile 
class branched out into nearly twenty orders. One of these included the 
forerunners of mammals and another the forerunners of birds. Except for 
the four living orders of reptiles which are treated in this volume, the rest 
are extinct and are known only from fossilized remains. 

Reptiles probably originated in the waters of the Paleozoic era when 
strange armored fishes were the dominant form of vertebrate life. Probably 
a group of fishlike amphibians, faced with extermination by drying pools 
and streams, crawled overland to reach other waters and so for the first 
time established life on land. When, through long evolutionary processes, 
some of these ancient amphibians completely freed themselves from the 
water, permanent land dwellers appeared. 

In the long course of time the primitive reptiles, descendants of the 
amphibians, gave rise to a great number of creatures which dominated 
land, sea and sky for about one hundred million years. This period, the 
Mesozoic, is also known as the Age of Reptiles. 

Some reptiles, such as the birdlike Ornithosuchus, became swift-run¬ 
ning, bipedal animals. Others, the Geosaurus, ancestor of our modern 

16 


crocodilians, slid back to the less competitive and sluggish life of the sea. 
The pterosaurs were unique even among the odd specimens which the early 
ages developed from the initial reptiles, for they were winged animals with 
wing spans as great as twenty feet. Gigantic flesh-eating monsters such as 
the tyrannosaurs (tyrant reptiles) developed, some of which were almost 
fifty feet long, twenty feet high and weighed thirty tons. The Tyrannosaurus 
would stand on his massive hind legs and use his clawed forearms and great 
teeth to tear his prey to pieces. It was the heyday of such dinosaurs as the 
Brontosaurus or thunder lizard, the largest monster ever discovered, which 
weighed as much as thirty-five tons. They were strict vegetarians and con¬ 
sumed about five thousand pounds of green fodder daily. Despite their great 
bulk these peanut-brained goliaths were easy victims for the more ferocious, 
though smaller, flesh-eating animals. 

Then, perhaps due to climatic changes and their lack of adaptability, 
most of these gigantic reptiles disappeared. A few, however, evolved into 
different forms, and to them can be traced the ancestry of virtually all living 
reptiles, birds and mammals. 

In size, if in nothing else, the reptilian descendants of those gargantu- 
ans, are quite inferior. The longest reptiles today, such as the crocodiles 
and the pythons, do well to attain a length of thirty feet; even these are 
diminutive alongside the extinct dinosaurs, some of which grew to more than 
three times that length. The trunkback or leathery turtle, largest of living 
reptiles, seldom exceeds half a ton in weight and only averages an overall 
length of six feet. 

Modern reptiles are described and classified as follows: 

CLASS: 

REPTIL1A — the reptiles comprise about five thousand living 
species of crocodilians, tuataras, lizards, snakes and turtles. All 
are backboned animals breathing air by means of lungs. They 
have four-chambered hearts and a variable body temperature that 
generally corresponds with the temperature of the surrounding 
air or water. Protection is afforded by a covering of scales or 
plates. All have ribs and teeth, except the tortoises, whose jaws 
are armed with sharp, horny sheaths. Most of them have long tails. 
Reptiles reproduce by means of internal fertilization and lay 
17 


shell-covered eggs; in some cases their young are brought forth 
alive. 

ORDERS: 

CROCODILIA —the crocodilians (alligators, caymans, crocodiles and 
gavials). These are four-limbed reptiles of medium or large size, 
four to thirty feet in length, with elongated jaws. There are now 
twenty-five species. 

RH YNCHOCEPHA LI A — the tuatara. A four-footed, lizard-like rep¬ 
tile. Only one species, found in New Zealand, is now extant. 

SQUAMATA —the lizards and snakes divided into two sub-orders: 

LACERTILIA — the lizards. Reptiles with the two halves of 
the lower jaw fused in an immovable bony suture. Most 
of the twenty-five hundred species have functional 
eyelids. 

OPHIDIA — the snakes. In snakes the two halves of the 
jaw are connected by an elastic ligament. They lack 
movable eyelids. About twenty-three hundred species 
are known. 

CHELONIA — the terrapins (found in fresh water), turtles (salt 
water) and tortoises (land). The limb girdles are enclosed in the 
ribs, which form a boxlike covering. There are about two hundred 
and fifty species. 

The following modern characteristics of the reptiles demonstrate the 
progress from aquatic to terrestrial life. The reptile skin is dry and cov¬ 
ered with horny scales or scale-like folds of skin, unlike that of the am¬ 
phibians which breathe principally through the skin and secrete a slimy 
substance to keep it moist. Breathing is performed almost entirely by 
the lungs. The mode of reproduction, too, is that of land rather than sea 
dwellers. 

Strictly speaking, reptiles are not “cold-blooded.” Their temperature 
is determined by the heat of their surroundings and the extent of their 
muscular activity. However, as they lack sufficient heat to hatch out their 
young, incubation, except in a few live-bearing species, is performed by 

18 


the sun’s heat or the heat resulting from the fermentation of decaying plant 
matter. 

In the amphibians a three-chambered heart propels the blood, but in 
reptiles there has emerged a four-chambered organ. This type is carried 
forward by the birds and mammals, which are still higher forms of evo¬ 
lutionary development. 

The theory that the more individual variations a group possesses, the 
greater is its chance for survival, is exemplified by the reptiles. And each 
species, with its different environment, has developed along individual lines. 
For instance, there is a considerable range of locomotor adaptations. Snakes, 
lacking functional limbs, travel by lateral, undulating waves of the body 
muscles; most lizards and all turtles are four-limbed; crocodiles swim 
chiefly by strokes of the flattened tail; and the “flying dragon” lizard of the 
Indo-Malayan region, while it does not actually “fly,” soars glider-like from 
tree to tree by means of its distensible winglike skin membranes. 

Thus, while reptiles have retained such common features as the dry, 
scaly skin, their dissimilarities are even more striking. Tree snakes tend 
to have long slender bodies which enable them to “swim” over the leaves 
and branches. Often cave dwelling reptiles are without skin pigment and 
sight. Desert dwellers generally have the pallid coloration of their sur¬ 
roundings. 

Suited to their environment, many reptiles, like other animals, have 
a protective coloring which blends with the background and makes them 
virtually invisible. Some reptiles are able to assume various colorings; for 
example, when some lizards want to attract mates during the breeding sea¬ 
son, their skins assume the bright and glaring colors of the dandy, thereby 
probably aiding members of the same species to locate each other. 

Other means of protection include bony shells, poison and musk dis¬ 
pensing glands, and organs of smell to catch the scent of an approaching 
enemy. The flattening of the cobra’s hood, the rattle of the rattlesnake, and 
the hisses of other species might be considered as means of protection for 
they possibly notify the enemy to stay away — or suffer the consequences. 
It is also possible that these reactions are mere manifestations of fear. 

Such illustrations, chosen at random, reveal the intrinsic appeal of 
one of the most important divisions of the earth’s inhabitants, neighbors 
of man with which man should become acquainted. 

19 




CROCODILIANS 

(Alligators, Caymans, Crocodiles and Gavials) 

The rivers, swamps and marshes of the tropical world are the homes of the 
crocodilians, longest of living reptiles, except possibly certain specimens 
of the regal python. In the tropical and subtropical regions their life begins 
and ends — sometimes at the hands of enterprising big game hunters or 
commercially minded men who see the beasts as a source of material for 
sport shoes, bill-folds, belts, luggage and ladies’ handbags. Some, however, 
are spared only to spend their days in idle display for the edification and 
amusement of urban zoo-goers. 

Crocodilians may be divided into twenty-five species, ranging from the 
thirty-foot Indian gavial to the comparatively diminutive Central American 
cayman, four feet long at best. Travelers’ tales of seventy-foot specimens 
should be ignored. There are two species of alligators, seven of caymans, 
fourteen of crocodiles and two of gavials. 

All have been credited with many fictitious attributes, including that 
of being fearsome and dangerous enemies of man. On the whole the croco¬ 
dilians, if unmolested, would rather run away than fight a man. Still, for 
safety’s sake, it must be borne in mind that there are some man-eating 
crocodilians which need little more provocation than a pang of hunger to 
make a meal of a human being. 

Their food is sought both on land and in water, but it is in the latter 
that the crocodilians are most efficient. They are able to float with only 
their eyes and nostrils protruding; a valve shuts off their mouths from their 
throats so that the jaws may be kept open under water. After sighting a 
victim, the crocodilian dives down and noiselessly reappears under its 
prey. If small, the victim is swallowed whole; if the prey is too large for 
that procedure, the crocodilian may clamp the victim with its jaws, lashing 
about until the prey is torn to small bits. In the water the saurians revolve 
rapidly on the long axis of their bodies. 

21 












































































The most remarkable feature in their physiology is related to their 
aquatic life. One look at the skull of a crocodilian will show that the 
posterior nostrils are set so far back in the head and are so well separated 
from the cavity of the mouth by a bony palate that it is impossible for 
water to enter the breathing passages. 

A study of the circulatory system reveals the highest state of develop¬ 
ment found among reptiles. The heart is four-chambered and supplies blood 
to the head, trunk and tail through an aorta, in much the manner of higher 
vertebrates. 

The most hostile to man of the crocodilians are the crocodiles, but 
even some of these appear good-natured. A traveler in the Congo, for 
example, reported that he found two African tribes, one which ate crocodile 
meat and was eaten (whenever possible) by the crocodiles, and another 
tribe which did not use the flesh of these reptiles and was never molested 
by them. However, the authenticity of such “reciprocity pacts” is open to 
question and indicates the need for further scientific investigation. 

On occasion, when the pools and lakes which most crocodilians fre¬ 
quent in the hot months dry up, they may undertake overland migrations 
to new and wetter fields. It has been reported that in bygone days some 
towns in India were invaded by marching armies of water-seeking croco¬ 
diles. 

At mating time the sexes locate each other by bellowing and emitting 
a strong musky fluid from glands opening on the underside of the jaw 
near the throat. The females lay from twenty to ninety oval white eggs 
at a time on land where the heat of the sun or decaying vegetation hatches 
them. In some dry and sandy localities the eggs are laid in holes during 
the wet season. 

Almost all tropical countries can claim one or more species of croco¬ 
dilians. The map of crocodilian distribution shows that, although they some¬ 
times are encountered outside of the tropical zone, they are never found 
in latitudes beyond the fortieth parallel. Only the range of the alligators 
and caymans extends out of the torrid zone. 

The map is based upon researches made and published by the editor 
of this book in the Bulletin of the New York Zoological Society. 


23 


ALLIGATORS 

AMERICAN ALLIGATOR 


With its short legs hugging its thick, scaly body, the American alligator 
can propel itself through the water by means of its powerful tail and 
body more rapidly than a man can paddle a canoe. 

But it usually avoids such extreme physical exertion, preferring to 
loll about in inaccessible swamps. When in the water, it frequently lies 
quietly with only its eyes and the tip of its nose protruding. Disturbed, it 
will sink to the bottom. With the characteristic sluggishness of reptiles, it 
spends much of its time on an exposed bank, basking in the sun. 

The desire for food can spur the alligator to greater activity than is 
its wont. Its meal may consist of muskrats, snakes, insects, fishes, shrimp, 
pigs, or a number of other delicacies. If the prey is too large to be swal¬ 
lowed whole, the alligator holds the victim in its tooth-studded mouth and 
shakes it about or revolves with it in the water until it is torn to bits. 
Sometimes the reptile will drag the prey under water to drown it. And 
occasionally the victim is kept in the alligator’s den until it decomposes 
and becomes soft enough to be readily swallowed. 

On land, the alligator can run rapidly, its body well elevated, and 
in the dry season it may undertake long cross-country treks in search of 
water. 

At the approach of cold weather, it takes refuge in a den, dug in a 
mud bank and constructed with an underwater entrance. Here it lies dor¬ 
mant until spring. Should a cold spell surprise it away from home, it will 
lie in a torpid condition until warm weather returns. 

Alligators are in the main wary of man and will attack him only 
when cornered. Therefore, in approaching an alligator, one should strive 
to avoid giving it the impression that it is being cornered. 

24 



E. A. Mcllhenny. 

AMERICAN ALLIGATOR GUARDING NEST (Alligator mississippiensis). Length: 
12 feet. Range: Southern United States. 


Its tail is a formidable weapon. A nine-foot specimen, previously 
thought to be dead, once snapped its tail against the legs of a two-hundred 
pound man. The blow broke his leg and threw him several feet from the 
starting point. Since the creature’s thick neck prevents the head from turn¬ 
ing, the whole body is bent like a bow and then snapped in the reverse 
direction with tremendous and devastating force. 

The tough hide of alligators is traversed by furrows which divide it 
into diamond-shaped figures. The animal is further protected by rows of 
bony scutes or scales, which are extraordinarily tough but are not, as 
popularly believed, bullet-proof. 

It has no lips, and its more than eighty, long, conical teeth are naked 
and prominent even when the mouth is closed. Each eye, equipped with 
eyelids, is augmented by a third transparent lid. These transparent lids 
enable alligators to keep their eyes open when submerged in muddy water. 

Today eight feet is the average length of alligators, but in past times 

25 






when there were fewer hunters and civilization had not overrun almost 
every available habitat, specimens were taken averaging more than twenty 
feet. As recently as 1889, sixteen feet was given as the average length. 

Longevity of the species is unknown except for records of captive 
specimens. The title for age seems to go to one old American ’gator kept 
in the zoological gardens of Dresden for fifty-six years. 

Ditmars, Reese and Mcllhenny have observed the growth of alli¬ 
gators, and under favorable conditions the rate is about one foot a year 
for the first six years. Tagged alligators observed in the wild state show 
that both males and females average a little more than one foot per year 
until the ninth year, but the males slightly exceed the females in growth; 
after the fifth year the females increase in size more slowly. 

Nine years seem to mark adulthood for females, who begin to lay 
eggs at that age. Some captive specimens show that they are capable of 
breeding when nearly forty years old. 

During the breeding season, which occurs in early spring, the broad¬ 
bodied, heavy-headed males bellow so that they can be heard a mile away. 
At this time they engage in furious fights, often losing toes, limbs and 
portions of their tails. They inflate themselves and hiss as they exhale, 
lashing about violently with their tails and churning the water. 

A jet of fine musky liquid issuing from a gland in the male’s chin 
is believed to have the function of attracting the females. In April or 
May the female seeks a sheltered spot on a bank, and builds a mound 
of mud and vegetation. There she lays her elliptical eggs, numbering 
about thirty, and covers them with a heap of vegetable matter. The nests 
may be as much as three feet high and eight feet in diameter at the base. 
Regardless of the dryness of the surrounding air, the interior of the nest 
is always damp, since the females return to wet it during dry periods. 
Otherwise the eggs would dry out, for they are extremely porous. 

The temperature in the mound is fairly constant, ranging from ninety- 
five to one hundred and five degrees Fahrenheit, even when there is a 
variation of fifty degrees in the outside temperature. The eggs require 
about sixty-five days for incubation. During this time the male is utterly 
unconcerned with domestic affairs, but the mother remains near the nest 
and will defend it against humans and other animals. Several hours before 
hatching, the young begin to squeak, whereupon the mother opens the nest 

26 


FREE RIDE 



(SIZ) Ralph De Sola, Federal Writers’ Project. 


and permits them to escape. Baby alligators are only eight inches long 
when hatched. 

One of the earliest and most colorful accounts of American alligators 
was written by Sir William Bartram who, alone, paddled an Indian canoe 
along the St. Johns River in Florida, in 1773. 

He described the region as alive with the reptiles. On one occasion 
they issued from the marshes in such numbers as to completely surround 
his canoe, “rushing up with their heads and part of their bodies above 
water, roaring terribly and belching floods of water over me.” When a 
school of fish came down the river, “the alligators were in such incredible 
numbers, and so close together from shore to shore, that it would have 
been easy to have walked across on their heads, had the animals been 
harmless.” Adept fishermen, the alligators devoured the fish “by the hun¬ 
dreds of thousands. The floods of water and blood rushing out of their 
mouths, and the clouds of water and vapor issuing from their wide nostrils 
were truly frightening.” Bartram probably would have been more at ease 

27 


had he known that the fierce-looking “dragons” were rather harmless to 
man. 

Since Bartram’s time, American alligators have been wantonly hunted 
and exterminated. From 1880 to 1894, more than two million were killed 
in Florida alone for their hides. Today they are protected by law, because 
they eat harmful insects and muskrats which undermine the Mississippi 
levees. 

The use of alligator hide became fashionable in 1855, and during 
the Civil War it was used extensively for shoes. By 1890 hides were still 
numerous enough to be bought at ten dollars a hundred. But the result 
of “fashion” was the destruction of millions of alligators during the nine¬ 
teenth century. 

Alligators are hunted by digging down into their underground refuges 
and prodding their stodgy bulk with a hooked pole. The creature seizes the 
hook, whereupon it is dragged to the surface and dispatched with a rifle shot. 
Bull’s-eye lanterns are used for hunting after dark. 

Contrary to common belief, “alligator farms” do not breed and rear 
alligators. The “farmers” merely collect many wild-bred young, and ex¬ 
hibit these along with crusty old-timers, Indian curios and other features 
of interest to tourists. 

They have such sideshow features as the alligator “born with only 
two legs” or “half a tail,” and appear blissfully ignorant that generally 
the loss of an alligator’s limbs results from the fights which take place 
between the males. The farms sometimes sponsor “wrestling matches” be¬ 
tween an alligator and a man in which the poor, unoffending beast is 
mauled and pushed around by the zealous wrestler, who invariably emerges 
victorious. The farms sell baby ’gators to zoos and to tourists who want 
unique souvenirs of a southern trip. 

Early Spanish explorers in Florida believed alligators to be giant 
lizards. The name alligator is probably derived from el lagarto , the Spanish 
for lizard. 


28 


ALLIGATOR AND CROCODILE COMPARED 



From Ditmars’ REPTILES OF TIIE WORLD. 


The superficial characteristics of the crocodilians are very much alike. 
However, some have long flat snouts, while other species have short heavy 
ones. Crocodilians are generally classified and differentiated by the number 
of teeth and the structure of head bones. Young specimens are very hard 
to identify. 


29 


CHINESE ALLIGATOR 


Smaller than its American cousin, the Chinese alligator spends its days 
quietly, but at night moves about a good deal and bellows lustily. The 
bellowing is accomplished by a rapid exhalation which also seems to remove 
dust from the creature’s nasal passages. 

It makes a home by digging a hole, one foot in diameter, sunk 
obliquely to a depth of about five feet in the grassy river bank. As the 
cold, dry weather approaches, the alligator begins to enter the hibernation 
period; it issues less and less frequently from its hole, and finally settles 
down to await the warm season. 

During the warm weather they charge with open mouths. At such times 
it is conceivable that they may bite, although they usually have to be 
teased before they seek to inflict injury. 

Their food consists in the main of rats, fishes and insects. 

In midsummer the Chinese alligator lays ellipsoidal eggs, about as 
large as ducks’ eggs. It builds no nest, carelessly leaving its eggs amid 
weeds to be hatched by the heat of the sun. At birth the baby ’gators are 
tan in color, with yellow markings that disappear as they grow. Full 
grown, they measure a maximum of six feet and are a dull blackish color 
with irregular, dull yellow cross bands. In captivity one specimen lived 
for fifty years. 

The Chinese alligator first became known to western science in 1879 
when A. A. Fauvel wrote an account of it, but specimens were rare out¬ 
side of China until 1922 when Clifford H. Pope secured twenty in the lower 
Yangtze valley. 

Pope found that alligators lived only in a small area, though fossil 
remains show that they were once common throughout eastern China. He 
secured his specimens by digging them out of their holes during the hiber¬ 
nating period. One hole was shared by a wildcat, which Pope’s collector, 
barehanded, also captured. 

It required only a week for Pope to secure twenty specimens, and 
he reported an almost unlimited number of alligator dens in the region. 
This is highly remarkable in view of the density of human population 
there. However, one explanation may be that the Buddhist priests consider 

30 



i$. C. Dunton, New York Aquarium. 


CHINESE ALLIGATOR (Alligator sinensis). Length: 6 feet. Range: Lower Yangtze 
River Valley of China. 


it a virtuous act to buy alligators from their captors and set them free. 
Many tourists seeking alligator trophies at the local markets have been 
disappointed for this reason alone. 

The natives use its scales for a medicine which is supposed to cure 
diseases of the heart and intestines, fevers, nosebleeds and toothaches. At 
one time the skin was used for drum heads, and the thick tails are still some¬ 
times used for food. Popular belief among the Cantonese was that the head 
of the alligator could be cut off and dried, the muzzle broken, and the teeth 
pulled, all before the animal died. 

The Chinese used to exhibit alligators at fairs, representing them as 
“dragons.” 


31 


CAYMANS 

BLACK CAYMAN 


In the dry season, the voracious black cayman (jacare-assu ), largest and 
fiercest of the seven species of caymans, slips down into the jungle-lined 
rivers of northern South America. There it feasts on fishes, river turtles and 
mammals which come down to the river to drink. 

When these sources of supply are closed, and not even such a deli¬ 
cacy as an unwary human being is at hand, male caymans will not hesitate 
to devour their young. But the females, perhaps inspired by motherly love, 
encircle their offspring to protect them from the cannibalistic fathers. It 
is said that the females will fight desperately against the attackers and 
sometimes will carry off the baby caymans in cat fashion, hiding them in 
secluded pools until they are old enough to shift for themselves. 

The females lay from thirty to forty eggs in a reed-lined hole on the 
riverbank. Full grown, the average black cayman measures thirteen feet. 
Record specimens have attained a length of twenty feet. They are evenly 
scaled, black above and yellow beneath. They have a broad, short skull 
similar to that of alligators. 

When the rainy season returns, the black caymans desert the river 
and migrate to the flooded forests. They can be found from the Amazon 
basin to eastern Ecuador and Peru. 

South American natives fear these reptilian neighbors, but they seize 
every opportunity to capture them. The cayman’s skin is exported for the 
manufacture of leather goods, and the flesh is greatly relished by local 
gourmets. The eggs, too, are considered a tasty dish. 

In many Brazilian river villages, the cautious natives build a stockade 
in the water to protect swimmers.' 

CENTRAL AMERICAN CAYMAN 

Farther north from Panama to Colombia, is the range of the Central 
American cayman, known locally as the babilla. About four feet long, it 

32 


(NYA) 


Ralph De Sola, Federal Writers’ Project. 

SPECTACLED CAYMAN (Caiman sclerops ). Length: 8 feet. Range: Northern 
South America. 


is the smallest of crocodilians. When passing ships disturb the water in 
the Panama Canal, the row of inert “logs” along the bank begins to swim, 
and only then can it be recognized as very-much-alive babillas. 

A subtle tactic is used by the natives to capture the babilla. They 
lash two, pointed sticks crosswise, attach a rope and tie the free end of 
the rope around their waists. Then they walk through the reeds into the 
river until they are half submerged, and gently slap the water in imitation 
of an animal drinking. When they are lucky, a hungry babilla comes rush¬ 
ing up for a meal, jaws agape to seize the native’s enticingly extended arm. 
At that instant, the native jams the stakes between its jaws and makes 
for the bank, drawing the babilla in at the end of his rope. One machete 
blow, and the babilla is on its way to the leather goods manufacturer and 
the native’s dinner table. 

The five other species of cayman, which range from Central America 
to northern Argentina, are also used as a source for leather goods. 

33 


CROCODILES 

NILE CROCODILE 


The man-eating Nile crocodile, ranging through Palestine, Madagascar 
and nearly all of Africa has the most venerable recorded history of all 
crocodilians. Well known to the ancient Egyptians, who built their civiliza¬ 
tion about the River Nile, the crocodile was worshiped as a god and em¬ 
balmed along with the bodies of prominent men. The dangerous reptile 
was referred to in the Bible as Leviathan, and a mode of capturing it, 
strikingly similar to that employed by primitive peoples today, was de¬ 
scribed in the Book of Job. 

In the European Middle Ages, when people knew the crocodile only 
from wild descriptions and crude pictures, it became a symbol of hy¬ 
pocrisy since, while devouring a man, it shed “crocodile tears.” In more 
recent times, however, it was discovered that crocodiles cry when their 
mouths are so full that the bulk of their prey presses against their lachrymal 
glands. 

The Nile crocodile spends its time floating in African streams and 
lakes, submerged except for its eyes and the tip of its broad snout, on 
the lookout for fishes or aquatic birds. When it sights a victim, it can 
submerge and unerringly reappear directly under its prey’s nose. 

When not in the water, the crocodile suns itself on sand-bars or dry 
banks. The natives in many regions fear to cross a stream without first 
offering prayers to the crocodiles; these prayers may be accompanied by 
sacrifices, frequently human. Many tribes consider themselves descended 
from the crocodiles and therefore do not hunt them; others worship them 
as gods. Some hunt the crocodile only for revenge when a crocodile has 
killed a man, and often permission must first be obtained from the local 
witch doctor before embarking on the hunt. Apart from the prayers and 
incantations, the usual devices employed in the hunt are either a baited 
noose or two, crossed pointed sticks, such as are used in South America 
for hunting caymans. 

In color, the adult Nile crocodile is a dark olive-green. Its usual length 

34 



New York Zoological Society. 


MAN-EATING NILE CROCODILE (Crocodylus niloticus). Length: 20 feet. Range: 
Africa, Syria and Madagascar. 


is from fourteen to sixteen feet, although record specimens have been 
known to attain twenty-five feet. It is fierce and powerful, dashing rapidly 
out of the water to seize a man or other victim on the riverbank. Throwing 
its victim down with a stunning snap of its powerful tail, it will drag it 
under water to drown. The body is then pulled to the crocodile’s den, and 
when the meat is somewhat softened by decomposition, the reptile sits 
down to dinner. The den is a thirty-five-foot passage, dug in the river- 
bank, with an underwater entrance leading to a dry compartment. The 
natives sometimes hunt the crocodile by blocking up the water hole and 
digging out the reptile from above. 

The Egyptian plover, a bird inhabitant of the tributaries and mud¬ 
flats of the Nile, has been surnamed the crocodile bird because of its idyllic 
association with the crocodile. As the reptile wallows in the river slime, its 
gums grow full of leeches. These the crocodile birds are said to pick 
from between its teeth, even entering the cavernous mouth on occasion. At 

35 



the approach of danger, the plover warns its cold-blooded friend by taking 
flight. An instant later the crocodile slithers off into the murky water. 

The crocodiles possess two musk glands, which serve for sexual attrac¬ 
tion. The reptiles require a perfectly dry nesting site, where their twenty 
to thirty eggs can be hatched by the heat of the sun. After twelve weeks, the 
young begin to utter a hiccup-like sound inside the eggs and to butt against 
the shell with their single egg-teeth. The mother scrapes away the shell 
and leads her young to water. The young, a pale olive color with large 
black spots, are born with a true crocodile’s disposition, for they will at 
once snap at a man’s fingers if available. They are about eleven inches 
long and grow one foot each year for the first few years. They attain sexual 
maturity in their eighth year. Nile crocodiles enjoy an amazing fertility. 
Arthur Loveridge writes that in the first six months of 1922, 120,502 eggs 
were brought to the authorities of Tanganyika in response to a reward 
offered by them. This figure, of course, does not include those which were 
hatched. 

The natives in many parts of Africa use plaited crocodile hide for 
armor. 


36 



(SIZ) Ralph De Sola, Federal Writers’ Project. 

NILE CROCODILE PROFILE 


37 


SALT-WATER CROCODILE 


The record for man-eating, however, is held not by the Nile, but by 
the salt-water crocodile, a species attaining a length of twenty feet. It in¬ 
habits the estuaries of East Indian rivers and extends its range from Ceylon 
to the Solomon and Fiji islands, South China and the Philippines. This 
crocodile has often been seen swimming in the ocean, hundreds of miles 
from shore. This swimming ability, no doubt, accounts for its wide dis¬ 
tribution. 

The man-eating prowess of this crocodile has given rise to a host of 
legends and strange customs among the natives of various islands. Frazer 
in his Golden Bough writes that in Koepang, on the island of Timor, a 
pig with red bristles and a young girl perfumed and bedecked with flowers 
were sacrificed to the crocodiles before a coronation or military campaign. 
The girl was set on a sacred stone in a cave, whence a crocodile eventually 
dragged her into the water. There, the natives believed, the reptile married 
her. If she were not a virgin, it was thought, her crocodile bridegroom 
would return her. 

On many islands in the Malay Archipelago the belief is common that 
women sometimes bear twins, of which one is human, the other a crocodile. 
On these occasions the midwife carries the crocodile to the river and 
releases it. The family brings food for the crocodile at regular intervals, 
and the human child must go to the river to honor his twin, on pain of 
terrible misfortune. Often groups of these “crocodile people” go out in 
boats to visit their twins. They sing and weep until a crocodile is sighted 
and then offer it food and tobacco. 


38 



MAN-EATING SALT-WATER CROCODILE (Crocodylus porosus). Length: 20 feet. 
Range: Indo-Australian region. 


New York Zoological Society. 


39 


ORINOCO CROCODILE 


Another crocodile of great ferocity is the Orinoco crocodile of South 
Ameiica. Baron Alexander von Humboldt reported seeing specimens twenty- 
five feet long, but more recent explorers describe ten feet as a fair length. 
In 1930 over 200,000 skins of this species and of the caymans inhabiting 
the same region were exported. However, the Orinoco crocodiles are still 
abundant enough to do much harm to natives who, in retaliation, destroy 
their nests. The presence of these creatures in the Guianas is one of the 
numerous factors that make escape from the French (Guiana) penal colony 
difficult. Many escaping convicts have met a swift and terrible death in the 
reptiles’ powerful jaws. 


SWAMP CROCODILE 


All crocodiles are not man-eating. Among the comparatively harmless 
vaiieties is the twelve-foot Indian mugger, inhabiting the swamps of India, 
Ceylon and Java, which, though cannibalistic, does not molest man. Noted 
for its timidity, the mugger spends its time well hidden in its native bogs, 
except during periods of drought, when it moves about for considerable 
distances in search of water. During the long dry season, the muggers 
estivate in the mud, emerging from their sleep in time to greet the tor- 
rential rains. 

The mugger is held sacred by the Hindus. At Mugger-Pir, near 
Karachi, about one hundred and fifty of the reptiles have long been fed 
and cared for. For a fee the fakir in charge will amuse sightseers by throw¬ 
ing the crocodiles a goat or the carcass of some other animal, and the entire 
reptilian population of the swamp will come forth and struggle for the 
prey. A British army lieutenant is alleged to have crossed the swamp by 
stepping over the backs of the crowded reptiles. One large crocodile, known 
as the chief, is described as living in a solitary state, permitting none 
other to share its abode. 


40 



New York Zoological Society. 


AMERICAN CROCODILE (Crocodylus americanus ). Length: 14 feet. Range: 
Tropical America, southern Florida and Greater Antilles. 


41 


GAYIALS 

INDIAN GAVIAL 


The greenish-brown Indian gavial or gharial is the giant among present- 
day crocodilians. A specimen in the British Museum measures thirty feet, 
while live individuals of twenty feet are common. Yet despite its size and 
strength the gavial is harmless to man, as its long, slender snout, especially 
suited to fish-catching, is not adapted for attacking the larger mammals. 
According to reliable authorities, the human ornaments found in the 
stomachs of dead gavials prove nothing. These ornaments, it is said, were 
eaten along with Hindu corpses which the gavials had unearthed. The 
gharial has, however, been known to eat birds and small mammals such 
as young goats and small dogs. 

This immense reptile inhabits the rivers of British India. Here, sharing 
the habitat of other crocodilians, it lies for hours under water, with only 
its eyes and the nostril tips protruding. It catches fishes by a rapid sidewise 
snap of its snout and then passes them head first down the mouth, in a 
series of jerks. In winter months it spends most of its time basking in the 
sun on sandbanks, but takes to the water as the sun goes down. During 
the rains it leaves the flooded main rivers and migrates to smaller streams. 
Indian washerwomen pray to the gavials to keep away evil spirits. 

This species is the sole survivor of a large family of reptiles residing 
in India in prehistoric times. Pliocene fossils show a related species fifty 
to sixty feet long. 

The gavial is equipped with twenty-one or twenty-two rows of sharp 
transverse scutes or scales. Its long cylindrical jaws contain twenty-seven to 
twenty-nine upper teeth and twenty-five or twenty-six lower teeth on each 
side. The teeth are conical and hollow, considered better suited to snatching 
fishes than to crushing big game. 

Gavials lay their eggs in sandbanks to be hatched by the sun. Two 
rows of twenty eggs are laid, separated by one foot of sand. The young 
appear in March. Paler in color than their elders, they are about sixteen 
inches in length, nine inches of which consists of emaciated tail. 


42 



New York Zoological Society. 


MALAYAN GAVIAL (Tomistoma schlegeli). Length: 15 feet. Range: Malay Penin¬ 
sula, Sumatra and Borneo. 


MALAYAN GAVIAL 


The smaller Malayan gavial, also called false gharial and bediai , has a 
somewhat shorter snout than the Indian gavial and is thought to be the 
link between the gavial and the crocodile. Its average length is fifteen feet. 



INDIAN GAVIAL 

(Gavialis gangeticus ). 
Length: 24 feet. Range: 
Rivers of India. 


F. W. Bond, F.Z.S, 






THE TUATARA 

(Sole Living Member of the Order Rhynchocephalia) 

The tuatara is a “ghost out of the past,” as out of place among living 
reptiles as a Neanderthal man would be on Times Square. 

These lizard-like creatures are the sole survivors of the large order 
of rhynchocephalians which died out in the Triassic age. They still linger 
on only in a few small New Zealand islets which are the protruding peaks 
of submerged mountains. Tuataras are sometimes described as “living fos¬ 
sils,” since all other species of their order are known only by fossilized 
remains many thousands of years old. 

The tuatara burrows its home in the sandy and pebbly soil. Entered 
by a passageway of several feet, the apartment has two rooms lined with 
leaves and grass. But the tuatara tenants only one; the other is invariably 
occupied by a family of petrels, a species of sea bird — and the animal 
neighbors seem to live together much more amicably than do neighbors 
in a city tenement. 

Resting during the day in the dark shelter of this retreat, the tuatara 
ventures forth at night in search of food. The belly and tail of its slow- 
moving form scrape the ground as it drags along on four feet, the front 
two of which strikingly resemble a fat baby’s hands. When it sights a 
beetle, grasshopper, spider or worm, it raises its scaly belly and tail from 
the ground, darts forward and makes short shrift of its prey. 

The tuatara has a difficult time escaping from trouble. Sluggish, it 
runs very slowly and habitually pauses to crane its neck backward to peer 
at the pursuing enemy. Perhaps this characteristic accounts in part for 
the systematic depletion which has made it a rare reptile. 

Before scientists discovered that it was a unique relic of earlier epochs, 
the tuatara was well on the road to extinction. Some were killed off by 
man-made bush fires. Pigs and other animals put ashore by such early 
explorers as Captain Cook dined upon the peace-loving creature, as did 
some of the reptile-eating Maoris. Another factor which helped to eliminate 
the species from New Zealand is that the sheep ate the grass that sustained 
the insects which provided the tuatara’s food. Despite the government’s 

45 



Iiss^-xn: bay of 
wy ^ V - 

/ 9 PLENTY ■ 


north 


A.N. BRECKON. TIME. INC 


TUATARA 


ISLAND 


SPHENODON PUNCTATUS; 

Range: Islets off New Zealand. 

The tuatara, probably the world’s oldest prehistoric reptile and one time 
inhabitant of all New Zealand, is today confined to less than a score of 
islets. Surviving specimens are protected by art Act of the New Zealand 
Parliament. 


WELLINGTON 


NELSON 


ZEALAND 


CHRISTCHURCH Q 


DISTRIBUTION 

OF THE 

tuatara 

TODAY 


ISLETS OFF CAPE KAREKARE 
POOR KNIGHTS ISLANDS 
HEN and CHICKENS ISLANDS 
MOKOHINAU GROUP 
LITTLE BARRIER ISLAND 
CUVIER ISLAND 
MERCURY ISLANDS 
ALDERMAN ISLANDS. 

SLIPPER and SHOE ISLANDS 
KAREWA and MOTOKI ISLANDS 
PLATE ISLAND. WHALE ISLAND 
and RURIMA ROCKS 
EAST CAPE ISLAND 
BROTHERS ISLETS 
STEPHEN ISLAND 
APPROXIMATE POSITION OF 
LOCALITIES 


Prepared by A.Chern, Cartographer 




































decree of immunity for tuataras, the decimation seems to be continuing 
on the few islands which they still inhabit. 

Probably the day is not far off when the only observable tuatara will 
be a mounted specimen displayed behind museum glass. For although 
some have lived more than twenty-five years in captivity, they usually do 
not reproduce in confinement. Often they will go without eating for months; 
then suddenly they will begin to eat heartily every day. However, they will 
accept only living food. As a result, zoo-keepers sometimes place a chunk 
of meat on a stick and wave it about until the animal snaps at it with its 
sharp teeth. 

Although it resembles the lizard, the tuatara is as nearly related to 
the turtle. Among its outstanding characteristics are a row of yellow erectile 
spines (in the language of the Maoris, tuatara means “having spines”) 
which form a crest on its back, and a third eye set on the top of its head. 
Equipped with a lens, retina and an opening in the skull for the optic nerve, 
the pineal eye, which is no longer used, at least indicates that the tuatara’s 
ancestors had a third functional eye. 

This harmless creature is said to bite and scratch humans, but only 
in self-defense and then not badly. Its color is a dark olive-green. Burrowing 
in the sand dulls it, however, and it is only after a good washing that 
the skin colors assume their intrinsic brightness and distinctiveness. 

The vanishing tuatara has no external sex organs, and hence it is 
difficult to distinguish male from female. 

In November and December, New Zealand summertime, the female 
lays about ten elongated, hard-shelled eggs, which she buries in the sand. 
Thirteen months later the baby tuatara emerges from the shell and within 
six months has doubled in size. 

Alfred Sherwood Romer, in Man and the Vertebrates , states: “It was 
long ago pointed out that the tuatara is a reptilian ‘missing link’ which 
may be a survivor of an archaic group from which the ruling reptiles, 
lizards and perhaps other types may have evolved. 

“Why has this ‘living fossil’ survived in this one locality when its 
relatives have otherwise perished? This is an extreme case of survival due 
to isolation. New Zealand has probably been completely separated from 
other bodies of land since some time in the Age of Reptiles. The develop¬ 
ment of mammals in other continents has probably been a factor in the 

47 


destruction of the tuatara’s relatives over most of the world. But not a 
single mammal (except the bats) appears to have reached New Zealand 
until man arrived, and the lack of mammalian competition has presumably 
been the reason for the preservation of this archaic reptile.” 

The chart showing the distribution of the tuatara was plotted on the 
basis of data supplied by Dr. Frieda Cobb Blanchard. 


ANGER 



A. N. Breckon. Time.. Tnr.. 


48 




THIRD EYE 



A. N. Breckon, Time, Inc. 



49 


































LIZARDS 

Lizards are the most abundant of the living reptiles, comprising twenty-one 
families, divided into more than twenty-five hundred species. As a rule, 
they are coated with scale-like folds of the skin, have four legs and a 
tapering tail. Some, however, are legless and resemble snakes, but even 
these can be distinguished by their ear openings and movable eyelids. 

Lizards vary considerably in size, ranging from the ten-foot-long 
dragon of Komodo Island to the tiny tropical American gecko, less than 
two inches in length and weighing all of one-fifth of an ounce. 

Simplified, the chief groups of lizards may be arranged as follows: 

Geckos , of which there are more than two hundred and seventy-five 
species, are egg-laying, soft-skinned small lizards found in almost all tem¬ 
perate and tropical countries. Included with them are four species of large¬ 
eyed uroplatids from Madagascar whose lichen-like skins resemble the 
tree trunks to which they cling; five species of xantusids, inhabiting the 
western deserts of North America and the arid regions of Central America 
and Cuba; three species of serpent-like Malayan dibambids, in which the 
hind limbs of the females are lacking and those of the males are so 
degenerated that they probably are used only as claspers; five species of 
limbless burrowing feylinids of Madagascar and Africa, whose eyes are 
completely covered by skin; and the single anelytropsid, resembling a 
feylinid, which is found only in the humus of certain Mexican forests. 

Skinks are medium-sized lizards of cosmopolitan distribution covered 
with overlapping scales, beneath each of which is a bony plate embedded 
in the skin. Studies by Taylor, Burt and others indicate that the family is 
on the ascendant. In this grouping of approximately four hundred species 
are included the gerrhosaurids, a small family of about fifteen species 
confined in range to Africa and Madagascar. 

Old and New World Lizards include the lacertids and teiids. The 
ninety-odd species of lacertids inhabit all parts of the Eastern Hemisphere 
with the exception of Madagascar and the Australian region, while the 
one hundred and twenty-five species of teiids, which superficially resemble 
them, are generally confined to the American tropics. 

51 

















Worm-like Lizards are usually covered with mere vestiges of scales, 
lack visible eyes and ears, and have pinkish bodies and bluntly rounded 
tails which explain their name. The group is divided into three families: 
about forty species of amphisbaenids in America, the Mediterranean coun¬ 
tries and Africa; two species of aniellids found only in California; and 
about forty species of anguidids, which are chiefly American but have a 
few European and Indian representatives. Resembling them are the snake¬ 
like lizards or pygopods which are degenerate species confined to Australia, 
Tasmania and New Guinea. In superficial appearance and actions there is 
little to distinguish the eight little-known members of this lizard family 
from true snakes. 

Monitors are large lizards inhabiting parts of Africa, Arabia, southern 
Asia and Australia. The largest one of the twenty-seven species, and the 
largest of all living lizards, is the Komodo dragon of the East Indies. 

Poisonous Lizards , of which there are but three species, include the 
famed Gila monster, the only one whose venomous nature has been inves¬ 
tigated; the Mexican beaded lizard, and a third species, confined to the 
East Indies; the latter never having been investigated sufficiently to estab¬ 
lish whether or not it employs venom. 

Iguanas , with about three hundred species, are probably the best 
known lizards. All iguanas, including the related horned “toads,” chucka- 
wallas and basilisks, are almost entirely confined to the Western Hemi¬ 
sphere. Included in this group are the granular scaled xenosaur of Mexico 
and the fourteen species of African and Malagasy zonurids. 

Agamas include more than one hundred and fifty diverse and curious 
species. Some have the ability to glide, others display wonderful bearded 
and cape-like appendages, and one — the Moloch horridus — wins the prize 
for sheer hideousness. 

Chameleons , numbering less than fifty species, are queer-looking, 
casque-headed monsters in miniature. They have prehensile tails, fast 
changing colors and rolling eyes. They wander about trees and bushes in 
Africa, Madagascar, the Mediterranean countries, southern India and 
Ceylon. 

The relationships of these families are in part indicated in the chart 
of lizard evolution adapted from an article by Dr. William K. Gregory, 
published in the Bulletin of the New York Zoological Society . 

53 


GECKOS 


In the Malayan region dwells the strangest of geckos. Known as the “fly¬ 
ing” gecko, this lizard, according to Ditmars, is able to glide from tree 
to tree in search of insects. While it does not actually fly, its leap resem¬ 
bles the flight of a man-made aerial glider. The gecko has webbed feet 
which, together with membranes appended to its body, tail and limbs, serve 
it as a parachute. 

Most geckos, however, run about on four feet. They are small thick¬ 
set creatures with flat heads and stumpy tails, rarely attaining a length of 
fifteen inches and often measuring less than two inches. 

With few exceptions, they have expanded toes, sometimes connected by 
a web and equipped with round, adhesive pads. The traction mechanism 
of their toe pads enables them to run casually around on the most slippery 
surfaces and even scamper blithely across ceilings. A tame gecko running 
over a man’s hand produces a clammy sensation and is extremely difficult 
to shake off. One species, inhabiting the forests of eastern Madagascar, is 
believed by natives to dart up on the chest of a man and hold on so firmly 
that it can be removed only by cutting off the skin to which its toes adhere. 
Although the suction power of this uroplatid lizard is exaggerated, it is 
greatly feared by the local populace. 

The skin of geckos is usually of a dull color, smooth, and covered 
with crowded granular scales. Some species have larger scales among the 
small ones, some are covered with “warts,” and still others have round, 
fishlike scales. Among the latter is the wonder gecko of the Central Asiatic 
deserts, which, writes Gadow, can produce a chirping sound by rubbing 
together the big scales on its tail. The Madagascar scaly gecko has an outer 
skin so tender that it can escape a captor by abandoning it in the captor’s 
hand. 

On the whole, geckos prefer night life. Their eyes, which are usually 
without movable lids, contract in daylight to a fine vertical line. A few 
species, however, have true eyelids; some resemble snakes in that the 
transparent lids cover the eye; and the diurnal species, living in open sand, 
possess a round pupil. 

In their broad mouth is a short, flat, sticky tongue, which is extended 

54 


AUSTRALIAN GECKO (Gymnodactylus pla- 
turus ). Length: 1 foot. Range: Australia. 



American Museum of Natural History. 


Dr. II. Hediger. 


MAURITANIAN OR MOORISH GECKO 
(Tarentola mauritanica ). Length: 8 inches. 
Range: Mediterranean countries. 






not only for tasting, eating and drinking, but also for cleaning their eyes. 
Its stickiness is an asset in taking beetles and other insects from narrow 
crevices. The mouth contains a great number of teeth, quite similar in 
shape, each having one cusp on a cylindrical base. The gecko’s neck is 
short and thick-set. The medium-sized tail is exceedingly fragile. If it 
breaks off, it will grow again, but without the diagonal rows of scales 
which adorned the original. 

Many of the geckos shed their fine outer skin periodically and usually 
eat it. 

The geckos vary widely in their habits and appearance, depending 
upon their environment. Some live in trees growing on jagged cliffs, and 
pursue their prey at night, often while running upside down. Others, living 
in sandy regions, have slender toes trimmed with scales, adapted to the 
sandy terrain of Turkestan, Persia, Arabia and the African deserts. 

Most of the desert geckos are under seven inches in length. Some 
geckos in the Malayan region attain lengths of fifteen inches and are quite 
stocky. They eat other lizards as well as their staple diet of insects, and 
are not averse to gobbling up a small bird or rodent. 

Geckos are often attracted to tropical homes by insects hovering about 
the light of a lamp. They can enter houses through the smallest crevices. 
They scurry over the walls and ceilings so swiftly that it is almost im¬ 
possible to catch them. One writer tells of a gecko in Colombo, Ceylon, who 
was trained to appear at a colonist’s dinner table each day at dessert time. 
The family once left the house for some months, yet when they returned 
and sat down to dinner, the gecko reappeared. 

Geckos have received their name from a cry which they utter “by a 
convulsive movement of their tongue.” The usual cry resembles “yecko” 
or “gecko” although some emit a sound like a cat’s “meow.” 

They have, almost throughout the world, achieved a sensational repu¬ 
tation for being poisonous, but in actual fact they are quite harmless, unable 
even to bite severely. It is not odd, therefore, that a species inhabiting the 
American southwest should mistakenly be known as the “poison lizard.” 


56 




L. M. Iilauber. 

ARIZONA NIGHT LIZARD (Xantusia arizonae). Length: 4 f y 2 inches. Range: 
Arizona. 


57 



SKINKS 


Although these lizards are not usually eaten by man, it is said that Genghis 
Khan, marching through Central Asia, fed his warriors on skink meat to 
make them fiercer. Yet the skink itself is a most unwarlike animal. 

Some burrow in the sand and have little or no use for their rudimen¬ 
tary legs. Most skinks dwell in the desert although a number of species 
spend their lives in the vicinity of grass and trees. 

A few snake-like skinks, although they have small legs, do not bother 
to use them when in a hurry, but fold them up and glide away on their 
bodies. In some species, one pair of limbs is so degenerated as to be useless; 
in others, neither pair is of practical aid. Some species are completely limb¬ 
less. So great is the variation, that even among a single species there exist 
differences in the number of toes. Except for the snake-like species, most 
skinks have short legs on which they can travel swiftly when need be. 

Most of them are alike in appearance and, especially in the limbless 
skinks, the head, body and tail are not clearly marked off as in other lizards. 
They have large, rounded, rather smooth scales which overlap. Unlike 
most other lizards, they have bony plates under the scales. The eyes are well 
developed and have round pupils, while the movable eyelids are augmented 
by a third, transparent, windowlike lid. This feature of the skink’s eyelids, 
together with its round, tubelike body and smooth skin, adapts it to a 
subterranean life. 

There are wide divergences in the size of these creatures. The largest 
one, the giant skink, grows to a length of two feet. This comparatively 
huge member of the family, living in New Guinea, Java and the Moluccas, 
according to de Rooij not only eats insects but also small birds and mice. 

FIVE-LINED SKINK 

The five-lined skink indiscriminately feeds on insects of all sorts, in¬ 
cluding wasps and yellow-jackets. Its smooth, glistening, hard skin is a 
protective armor against the stings of its victims. 

The skink has been observed by Mcllhenny to deliberately approach 
a wasp’s nest, seize it in its jaws, and shake it by thrashing about with 

58 



59 







its body. As the young wasps drop out they are devoured. Adult wasps, 
having learned from experience that discretion is the better part of valor 
in dealing with skinks, flee without a fight. Their only defense is to build 
their nests in localities not inhabited by their enemy. A five-lined skink 
has been known to raid as many as twenty wasps’ and twelve yellow-jackets’ 
nests within two weeks. 

This species is found in the eastern United States and is especially 
prolific in the southeast. It makes its home in hollow pine trees and be¬ 
neath the loosened bark of fallen trees. It is a hard creature to capture, for 
it always has a prepared hiding place to which it flees when in danger. 

It acquires its name from the five yellow stripes which adorn its black 
body in youth. Added brightness is lent to the young skink by the rich 
blue of its tail, which has won the reptile the additional name of blue¬ 
tailed skink. As the lizard advances in age, however, the stripes become 
obscure and vanish, the body becomes brownish in color, the head a 
glowing red. At this stage, it is popularly called red-headed lizard or 
scorpion” and is mistakenly considered poisonous. 

Males grow to a length of ten inches, females to seven. The females 
never completely lose the five characteristic stripes and their heads are 
never as red as the males’. The head of the male, swollen at the temples, 
gives it a terrifying appearance. 

The difference in coloration between the young five-lined skink and 
the adult is so great, that for a time they were thought to be two different 
species. 


AUSTRALIAN STUMP-TAILED 
SKINK 


This skink, inhabiting Austialia, has a tail so blunt that it seems to have 
a head at both ends of its body. 

About a foot long, it is brown in color, spotted or banded with yellow. 
Its rough, overlapping scales and heavy, shapeless body make it resemble 
the dry cone of a pine tree. 


60 



Raymond L. Ditmars, New York Zoological Society, 


DESERT SKINKS (Scincus officinalis). Length: 9 inches. Range: North Africa. 



(NZP) 


BROWN SKINK 

(Eumeces obsoletus ). 
Length: 11 inches. 
Range: Central west¬ 
ern United States and 
northern Mexico. 





It is thought by some authorities to be the only lizard which gives 
birth to one offspring at a time, bringing it forth alive after a three-month 
period of gestation. Other specialists insist that two or even three young 
are produced. At birth, the young lizard is half the size of the adult. 

The stump-tailed skink spends its time tunneling in the sand, or 
basking in the sun on a bed of sand or stones. About six times a year 
it sheds its skin, after having soaked itself in water. The lizard feeds on 
worms, small snakes and other lizards, but in captivity it will eat any 
sort of meat as well as raw greens. Stump-tails thrive in captivity and, 
perhaps because of the easy life, become sluggish and slow-moving. 


EGYPTIAN SKINK 


This nine-inch skink, inhabiting the Sahara Desert and parts of Egypt, has 
a snout built like a shovel — and used like one. When it wants to dig down 
in the sand, it scoops out a burrow with its snout. Its feet too are adapted 
to desert life, with wide, thin toes permitting it to saunter over the sand. 

The body of the Egyptian skink is cream-colored with black or dark 
red bands, which appear as the creature becomes older. Its flat abdomen 
is reminiscent of the constricting snakes, and the body looks still more 
serpentlike when gliding along the mounds and hollows of the sandy terrain. 
This skink is uncomfortable unless kept in a temperature of more than 
ninety degrees Fahrenheit; much below that it becomes torpid with cold. 

The Arabs believe that the flesh of the Egyptian or desert skink will 
cure almost any disease, and it is widely used for food and medicine. 
When broiled, it is said to have an excellent flavor. 

A relative of the Egyptian skink, the seps, of the Sahara Desert and 
Arabia, has a seven-inch, snakelike body. Its small legs are of little use 
to it and are frequently folded against the body as the lizard glides along 
like a serpent. Flower writes that its wedge-shaped snout aids it in virtually 
swimming into the sand to escape trouble. 


62 


MONKEY-TAILED 
SKINK (Corucia ze- 
brata). Length: 10 
inches. Range: Solo¬ 
mon Islands. 



63 




OLD AND NEW WORLD 
LIZARDS 

OLD WORLD LIZARDS 


The true lizards of the Old World are most numerous in Africa. They 
are also found in Europe and Asia as far northward as the region of per¬ 
manently frozen sub-soil. Members of this family live chiefly on the ground. 
For the most part they subsist on insects and grubs, but some species are 
cannibalistic. Their well-developed limbs are equipped with five toes each; 
their tongues are cleft, and they all possess efficient eyes and ears. Some 
of these small-scaled lizards bring forth their young alive, but most lay 
soft, oval eggs which they bury in the ground for the sun to hatch. 


SAND LIZARD 

A denizen of England and northern Europe, the eight-inch sand lizard 
darts so rapidly over the broken ground that the eye has difficulty in fol¬ 
lowing it. The male of this species is a bright emerald green, while the 
female is brown with black and white spots. Male and female are said 
to pair for life and to share in tending the six or twelve thin-skinned eggs 
brought forth each year. 

At the approach of winter the sand lizards burrow into the earth, 
where they hibernate until spring. 


COMMON OR VIVIPAROUS 
LIZARD 


The fawn-colored common lizard is also known as the viviparous lizard 
because it brings forth its young alive, either free or wrapped in a mem¬ 
branous covering. The newborn, less than an inch in length, arrive in 

64 



American Museum of Natural History. 

GREEN LIZARD (Lacerta viridis). Length: 1 foot. Range: Central and southern 
Europe and Asia Minor. 


65 




litters of from eight to twelve and are immediately left by the mother to 
shift for themselves. Hiding in the underbrush for the first few days, they 
subsist upon a portion of the egg yolk that has been absorbed through 
the abdominal opening. Later they feed on tiny insects which they find 
in cracks in the soil. The adult lizard attains a length of eight inches. 


GREEN LIZARD 


The green lizard of France and Central Europe is an active, friendly 
creature, which can be taught to eat out of a man’s hand provided the 
hand contains grubs, worms or larvae. Most members of this species attain 
a length of twelve inches and are colored a uniform green, but some are 
spotted or streaked with yellow. Their brittle tails often snap off when 
they are caught, and in the course of time are replaced by new and shorter 
ones. Green lizards excavate burrows and spend their nights in them. 

On the evening of Easter Sunday, the gypsies of southern Europe take 
a wooden vessel resembling a band-box which rests cradlewise on two cross¬ 
pieces of wood. In this they place herbs and the dried carcass of a lizard, 
which every person present must first have touched with his fingers. The 
vessel is then wrapped in white and red wool and carried by the oldest 
man from tent to tent. It is finally thrown into running water after every 
tribe member has spat into it once and the sorceress has uttered some 
spells over it. Frazer states that the gypsies believe that this ceremony 
dispels all illnesses that would otherwise afflict them during the coming 
year. Anyone finding the vessel and opening it is believed to be visited 
with all the maladies which the others have escaped. 


WALL LIZARD 


The wall lizard is so called because of its habit of scampering up and 
down walls. Many different varieties of this species are found throughout 
southern Europe and on the various Mediterranean islands. 


66 



h 


Ralph De Sola, Federal Writers’ Project. 

SOUTH AMERICAN OR GREAT TEGU (Tupinambis teguixin). Length: 4 feet. 
Range: Northern South America. 


A GRAPHIC ESTIMATE OF THE LIVING ANIMAL WORLD 

Note: Figures refer to the number of species 


ANp 


WORM-LIKE 

COECILIANS 

SO 


SALAMANDERS 
and NEWTS 
150 


TURTLES 

250 


TUATARA 
1 


CROCODILIANS 
25 


VERTEBRATES 



■ 

MAMMALS 

[4000 Species) 


■■ 

BIRDS 

[10000 " ” ] 

>»\ 

■ 

REPTILES 

[5000 ” " ] 

A 


AMPHIBIANS I* 800 ""I 
FISHES & OTHER CLASSES (2i3oo 


._. 

^/v/mal^ 






































EYED LIZARD 


This green, eighteen-inch lizard, named for its blue, eye-shaped markings, 
is remarkable chiefly for the varied diet it will consume in captivity. Its 
menu includes minced beef, eggs, mice, young birds and the young of its 
own kind. 


NEW WORLD LIZARDS 


Closely resembling the family of Old World lizards are the New World 
lizards. A few species, however, attain a much larger size than any of the 
Old World varieties. Some live in trees, while others remain on the ground. 


TEGU 


The greater part of the tegu’s four-foot length is taken up by its stout 
whiplike tail. These swift, powerful lizards do great damage to farms, 
raiding poultry yards and carrying off large numbers of fowl. In addition 
they break many eggs with their muscular jaws, which are capable of crush¬ 
ing a man’s hand. Tegus are marked with handsome, lacey patterns, which 
may be brown, black, yellow or cream-colored. In some regions of South 
America these reptiles are known as safeguard lizards, as they are sup¬ 
posed to warn of the approach of alligators. 

Old tegus develop heavy, crocodile-like pouches on the side of their 
jaws. These vicious reptiles may be tamed in confinement, though the young 
frequently fly into a rage and chase their keepers. They often kill other 
lizards, holding them between their jaws and shaking them to death. Tegus 
live on insects, small reptiles and birds. 

Other New World lizards are the various race-runners, noted for the 
lightninglike rapidity with which they dash about the sandy regions of the 
warmer parts of America; and the degraded, worm-like scolecosaurs, which 
live largely on ants. 


68 



New York Zoological Society. 

ALLIGATOR TEGU (Dracaena guianensis). Length: 2% feet. Range: Northern 
South America: the Guianas. 


Close observation of lizards, which seem to renew their youthful com¬ 
plexions by casting off their old skin, may have led to an interesting cus¬ 
tom of ancient Mexico. Sufferers from diseases of the skin or eyes mas¬ 
queraded in the flayed skins of men and women who had impersonated 
local gods in religious ceremonies. They evidently hoped to slough off 
their own dirt, diseases and parasites as their reptilian neighbors were 
seen to do. 

The Tamanachiers of the Orinoco and the Arawaks of British Guiana 
used to say that their god once visited the earth and was set upon by human 
beings, who did not recognize him. He took away their gift of immortality 
to punish them, and bestowed it upon lizards, snakes and the other skin- 
changers. 


69 




WORM-LIKE LIZARDS 

AMPHISBAENAS 


The amphisbaenas are burrowing, worm-like lizards, specially adapted 
for raiding anthills in such diverse areas as western Mexico, Lower Cali¬ 
fornia, the Mediterranean region and Africa. Their name is taken from 
that of a mythical monster which possessed a second head in place of a 
tail and, as the Greek word indicates, could move forward or backward 
with equal ease. Although this legless lizard actually has but one head, it 
is hard for the untrained eye to distinguish the head from the short, rounded 
tail, for the creature’s eyes and ears, adapted to subterranean life, are 
concealed. Like the mythical monster, the amphisbaena is able by means of 
its wormlike rings, to move forward or backward in a series of vertical 
undulations. The rings are divided into tiny squares, which help the reptile 
to grip smooth surfaces. 

Among primitive peoples the belief is still common that amphisbaenas 
possess two heads, and that one is awake while the other sleeps. The reptile 
seems aware of the resemblance between its extremities, for when attacked, 
it will hold its tail erect, simulating the head. According to Van Denburgh, 
as the enemy attacks the supposed head the lizard will swing its true head 
around and inflict a powerful bite. 

The scalation, usual in most lizards, has disappeared from the amphis¬ 
baena, except for vestiges on the head. In most species legs are totally 
lacking. The teeth are not set in sockets, but are consolidated with the 
jaw itself. 

The white amphisbaena of South America is the largest member of 
the family, attaining a length of two feet, with a girth of only one inch. 
Amphisbaenas are often found in manure piles, where they burrow in 
search of grubs. 


70 


^ SIZ) Ralph De Sola, Federal Writers’ Project. 

“GLASS SNAKE” (Ophisaurus vetUralis). Length: 2l/ 2 feet. Range: Southern United 
States. 


ANIELLIDS 


The approach of an insect or grub attracts the aniellid s attention, but 
the limbless lizard makes no attempt to move toward it. If, however, the 
insect comes into the immediate vicinity, the aniellid will raise its head 
and crawl out of its burrow. When its head is directly above the victim, it 
will plunge its jaws down into the sand, thus imprisoning the insect. The 
insect’s struggles only force it deeper into the lizard s mouth, where it 
remains for some time before being swallowed. A considerable amount of 
sand is swallowed at the same time. 

Slevin says that these small, dark-bodied reptiles of California and 
Lower California spend most of their time lying in the sand with only 
their head exposed. On cloudy days they seem to be more deeply buried 
than on clear days, while in warm weather they grow somewhat more 
active. 


71 



Aniellids have been observed in a laboratory to lie motionless in the 
sand for days at a time, except when distracted by some noise or moving 
object. When the temperature fell below sixty degrees Fahrenheit a group 
of the lizards would submerge as deeply as possible and crowd together 
for warmth. When the room grew warmer, the individuals would again 
separate and bring their heads to the surface. 


“GLASS SNAKE” 


Another type of worm-like lizard is represented by the anguids, found 
chiefly in the warmer regions of the New World, but also having a few 
Asiatic and several European species. A typical member of this family 
is the “glass snake,” which attains a length of three to four feet. 

The “glass snake” burrows in sand and among fallen leaves, subsisting 
largely on insects. After catching its prey, the reptile stuns it by a powerful 
shaking and then crunches it in its jaws. 

Prof. Franz Werner reports that peasants of southern Europe believe 
that the “glass snake” can snap itself to pieces and put itself together 
at will. This superstition is based on the creature’s ability, when seized by 
the exceedingly long tail, to lose that appendage, which goes on wriggling — 
the lizard escaping in the excitement. The “glass snake” periodically sheds 
its entire epidermis. 

It lays its eggs under moss and leaves. Six to twenty young emerge 
alive. These reptiles grow quite tame in the presence of man. When caught, 
they do not bite but sometimes soil their captor’s hands with a saliva 
resembling tobacco juice. One captive specimen lived more than thirty 
years. 


72 



Dr. II. Hediger. 


MOROCCAN AMPHISBAENIDS (Trogonophis maroccana ). 
Length: 1 foot. Range: Morocco. 



From Ditmars’ REPTILES OF THE WORLD. 


IBERIAN WORM LIZARD (Blanus cinereus). Length: 
10 inches. Range: Spain, Portugal and northwest 
Africa. 






MONITORS 


Monitors are large, water-loving lizards, of great strength and fierceness. 
The monitors are distinguished from other lizards by their long, smooth 
tongue, deeply cleft like that of a serpent, and by their long neck, which 
greatly enhances their biting power. The skin of the monitors is smooth, 
covered above with round granular scales and beneath with smooth square 
shields. 

They derive their name from the fact that the Nile monitor is believed 
to give warning of the presence of crocodiles. 

Powerful swimmers, they are aided by a relatively long tail, which 
in many species is laterally compressed. The teeth of this hunting lizard 
are large and pointed. Monitors may be gray, brown or black and orna¬ 
mented, especially when young, with dull yellow markings in the form of 
spots or transverse bars. Some species are found in desert or water regions, 
and may be good tree climbers. 


WATER MONITOR 


The slender, nine-foot kabara goya, or water monitor, pursues its prey 
by land and by water. In search of fishes it glides rapidly through rivers 
and streams with the help of its flattened tail, and is capable of submerging 
for long periods of time. With equal agility the yellow-spotted reptile 
climbs trees for birds’ eggs and, on occasion, makes a meal of the corpses 
which the natives of Siam sometimes “bury” on a bough. Amid the jungle 
marshes the intrepid lizard will attack other reptiles and mammals. Rush¬ 
ing furiously upon its prey, it grasps it in its jaws and shakes it to death. 
If the animal struggles, the kabara goya holds it down with its claws, while 
its jaws seek a better hold. A small victim will be tossed about till its head 
points down the reptile’s throat and then swallowed in a series of rapid 
gulps. Larger prey may be dropped after the struggle. The monitor rests 
from its exertion, licks its jaws, feels about the dead beast with its tongue, 

74 



KOMODO DRAGON (Varanus komodoensis). Length: 9 feet. Range: Komodo, Rinja, 
Flores, Padar and Mboera islands in the Dutch East Indies. 


75 


and finally begins the slow, difficult process of swallowing. Water monitors 
have been known to swallow half-grown rabbits whole. 

During the mating season these lizards fight wildly among themselves, 
rearing up on their hind legs and grappling with their jaws. 

Some twenty-four, soft, white-shelled eggs are laid usually in a hollow 
tree trunk near the water. 

Despite their great size and agility, the water monitors have stronger 
enemies. The larger snakes of India find them good eating, and man, too, 
hunts them for food, sometimes with the help of dogs. The Singhalese 
believe its fat, applied externally, is a cure for skin diseases. The rural 
population also make a poison called kabara tel of this substance, which, 
taken internally, is extremely toxic, having figured in many local murders. 
If a kabara goya enters a native house or walks across the roof, it is con¬ 
sidered an evil omen, and a priest’s services are required to set things 
right. Heretics allege that the priests keep pet kabaras which they train 
to walk over other people’s roofs. 

Water monitors become very tame in captivity and are fairly docile 
when kept indoors. In the open, their wild moods are said to get the 
better of them. 

Another denizen of India is the bis cobra , or land monitor, measuring 
some six feet in length and frequenting the drier regions. Low-caste Hindus 
in search of food dig these creatures out of their burrows. The monitor 
is in the habit of sitting in its burrow with its tail toward the opening; if 
the tail is caught, the clumsy beast finds it hard to turn around. Snake 
charmers are said to dive into their burrows and grasp them by the tail. 
Sometimes in this pursuit, the charmers are bitten, and the reptile’s jaws 
have to be cut from their hands with a knife or shears, so tightly are they 
clamped. 

Bis cobras are destructive to poultry and crops, but benefit man by 
eating great numbers of rodents. When chased, they may climb up a tree 
and disappear in a hole at the top. Cornered, they rear up on their hind 
legs and inflate themselves with air, which they then expel with a harsh 
noise to terrify an assailant. 


76 


KOMODO DRAGON 


Greatest of lizards, the heavy-set, twelve-foot Komodo dragon can kill 
a deer or a small pig. After dismembering its victim by a violent shaking, 
the brown, two-hundred-and-fifty-pound monster bolts it in great chunks, 
licking its saw-toothed jaws with its long, yellowish tongue. Often several 
monitors will fight furiously among themselves for division of their prey, 
and if one of their number is wounded, the others may finish it off and 
devour it. 

In their more peaceful moments the dragons lie sprawled on a sand¬ 
bank, sunning themselves and staring vacantly into the void. At night they 
repair to a burrow dug under a rock or amid the tree roots in the side of 
a gulley. They are powerful, though clumsy, swimmers and sometimes take 
to the water in search of turtles. The young dragons are able to climb 
trees, this gift helping them to feed on birds’ eggs and occasional chicks. 

Though their thick, scaly skin is of no commercial use, these lizards 
were, until recently, extensively hunted and are wary in the presence of 
man. If possible, they run away, but when cornered they try to club their 
enemy with their thick tail. They are captured in specially built traps, 
baited with dead pigs, but are so powerful that they have been known 
to break through the bars and escape. 

Despite their ferocity in the wild state, they become quite docile in 
captivity. Captive Komodo dragons are fed once every five days, alternat¬ 
ing one dozen eggs and either two pigeons or a medium-sized chicken. 

The Komodo monitor was discovered in 1912 on the East Indian 
island of Komodo. Recently this island and two adjacent ones inhabited 
by dragons have been made game preserves by the Dutch government, and 
today the dragons once in danger of extinction are fairly numerous. 


NILE MONITOR 


Numbers of greenish-gray Nile monitors lie on an African riverbank, 
basking in the tropic sun. These eight-foot lizards are, with the exception 

77 


of the crocodile, the largest quadruped reptiles in Africa. At the approach 
of man they will run swiftly into the bush or clamber into a tree, for years 
of persecution have made them extremely wary. It is, indeed, the monitor’s 
misfortune to be hunted for an uncommon number of reasons. Its tough 
hide is used not only for leather, but also for the manufacture of native 
musical instruments; it preys on poultry; the natives erroneously believe 
its bite to be poisonous; some Africans roast it for food; and, to make 
matters worse for it, the melted fat of its reproductive organs is considered 
an unfailing cure for earache. The fishermen on Lake Victoria Nyanza 
flay monitors alive, as the skin, in this manner, comes off more easily. 

Only when cornered will the great reptile turn and fight, brandishing 
its long, razor-edged tail like a whip. As a last resort, it may eject an 
evil-smelling mess from its cloaca. 

Actually the monitor is most beneficial to humans, for it feeds largely 
on crocodile eggs and young man-eating crocodiles. Other items on its diet 
are rats, mice, toads, insects, and birds surprised on its arboreal excur¬ 
sions. The monitor is a fierce fighter, breaking its victim’s spine with its 
teeth and claws. 

This lizard’s eggs are invariably laid in termites’ nests, in sets of 
approximately twenty-four. Of a dull white color, they are two and one-half 
inches long and one and one-half inches wide. The mother tunnels into the 
center of the nest and there deposits her eggs. Many of the eggs are destroyed 
by temperature conditions, by ants who like to share a part of their own nest, 
and by burrowing aardvarks which live on the ants. The incubation period is 
apparently ten months long, and the young are born in November. At this 
time, the escaping egg-liquid softens the surrounding clay, permitting the 
young lizards to dig a vertical passage to the surface. In thirteen days the 
young assume a yellow and black color which serves to camouflage them 
among the reeds by the riverbank. They are exceedingly active and pug¬ 
nacious if disturbed. At the end of one month they begin to take on their 
adult coloring. 

In the cool season of the year, monitors are seldom seen. 

Varanus exanthematicus, another African monitor, is remarkable for 
its habit of rolling on its back when frightened, putting one hind foot in its 
mouth and lying motionless until the danger has passed. 


78 



■ 


ifg 


American Museum oj Natural History , 


KOMODO STEPPING OUT 



79 












POISONOUS LIZARDS 


Closely related to the worm-like lizards are the poisonous lizards, which 
like the former possess a beadlike scalation. They are stout creatures covered 
with close beady tubercles, which in their garish coloring resemble Indian 
beadwork. The rear teeth are curved and fanglike. Those of the lower jaw 
are grooved while near their base a row of glands secretes (in at least one 
species) a poison closely resembling snake venom. These creatures live in 
the deserts of the southern United States, Mexico and Central America. 
Heloderma suspectum, the Gila monster of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, 
and Heloderma horridum , the beaded lizard of southern Mexico and Central 
America, are separated by a large stretch of territory in which no heloderm 
at all is found. This curious fact has thus far not been adequately explained. 
Another, though less known relative, is found in the East Indies. 


GILA MONSTER 

One of the “terrors” of the Texas badlands is the pink and black Gila 
monster, a venomous lizard attaining a length of twenty inches. It also 
inhabits parts of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. Ordinarily sluggish and 
slow-moving, the Gila, when annoyed, can maneuver with great speed and 
a gility* Rearing up the forward part of its body, the reptile will hiss fiercely, 
while its forked, purple tongue darts menacingly in and out. Some Gilas 
are so agile that they can reverse their position completely in a single leap. 
If the lizard’s jaws connect, their bite is as powerful and tenacious as a 
bull dog’s. The teeth are ground from side to side with a view to imbedding 
the fangs as deeply as possible. The venom is rapidly fatal to small animals, 
particularly attacking the heart. Scientists believe it to be highly dangerous 
to man and recommend treatment of its bites with suction bulb and snake¬ 
bite serum. At one popular sideshow act in the American Southwest a 
snake-oil “doctor” used to permit himself to be bitten by the lizard and 
then stubbornly refused to die. However, he did die in Los Angeles in 1915, 
but some persons insisted that he had a weak heart or had died from some 
other cause. The fact remains that he turned blue all over and died in 

80 


(SIZ) 


Ralph De Sola, Federal Writers’ Project. 

GILA MONSTER (Heloderma suspectum). Length: 1% feet. Range: Arizona, New 
Mexico, southern Utah, Nevada, and Sonora in northern Mexico. 


about fifty minutes after being bitten. It is therefore best to give the Gila 
the benefit of the doubt. Ornamented in glaring mottles like an impres¬ 
sionistic bathroom, the Gila can be said even to look venomous. 

It is believed to feed on the eggs of snakes and lizards, which it digs 
out of the sand as they are incubating. It is also supposed to eat ants, but 
it refuses them in captivity. The stubby tail of the lizard serves as a reservoir 
for the storage of fat. When much food is available, the tail fills out, and 
in the lean periods, when the Gila is obliged to go without food, it subsists 
by absorbing the fat in its tail. 

In July and August the Gila lays from six to thirteen smooth, tough- 
shelled eggs, two and three-quarters by one and one-half inches in size. 
The eggs are buried in the sand at a depth of from three to five inches, 
usually near a stream, because incubation which lasts twenty-eight to thirty 
days requires both warmth and moisture. A fresh-laid egg contains a small 
but well-formed embryo. The young are about four inches long and even 
more vividly colored than their elders. 

81 




IGUANAS 

GALAPAGOS MARINE IGUANA 


On the shores of the volcanic Galapagos Islands, marine iguanas are 
sometimes found in groups of several hundred, sunning themselves or 
diving after seaweed. These dull black and brown creatures are not merely 
the only marine lizards but also probably the most gregarious of lizards. 
With their short, stout heads and the crests of curved spines surmounting 
their necks and backs, they look fierce and sullen. But in reality, these 
powerful, five-foot lizards are among the tamest of animals. Though they 
have strong teeth, and claws powerful enough to hold fast to a rock amid 
a pounding surf, they have never been known to attack a man, even when 
teased or molested. 

Marine iguanas are singularly fortunate in possessing no enemies on 
land, while in the sea they fear only an occasional shark. With the sea lions 
they live on the best of terms, the two species stumbling over one another’s 
bodies without hostility. 

Giant crabs sometimes crawl over the iguanas, picking ticks off their 
backs. When the crabs crawl over their faces, the iguanas exhibit no anger, 
but merely close their eyes in self-protection. The great hawks, which prey 
on smaller lizards of the region, leave the twenty-pound iguanas strictly 
alone. It is this absence of enemies, no doubt, which has made the lizards 
so tame. Charles Darwin in his Voyage of the Beagle, tells how, when he 
seized marine iguanas by the tail and threw them into the water, they would 
simply turn and swim back to where he had found them. Beebe lassoed 
the same iguana six times, hurled it about and flung it to the ground. 
Each time the lizard grew apparently tamer. These creatures like to be 
petted and are not averse to posing for photographers. Only on rare occa¬ 
sions, when pursued, will they take refuge under a rock or in their burrow, 
and then, such is the strength of their claws, it is very difficult to pull them 
to the surface. 

Marine iguanas live near the shore, never straying very far out to sea 
or inland. The young play together like kittens, rearing up on their hind 
legs, sparring with their forepaws, and threatening to bite. At night the 

82 



American Museum of Natural History. 

GALAPAGOS MARINE IGUANAS (Amblyrhynchus crislatus ). Length: 5 feet. 
Range: Galapagos Islands. 


creatures repair to burrows dug in the soft lava above the shoreline. In 
the morning they move down to the water to dive for seaweed. Their long, 
flattened tails make them powerful swimmers. They are also able to walk 
on the ocean bottom, digging their claws into the rock to resist the backwash. 


GALAPAGOS LAND IGUANA 


The land iguana of the Galapagos closely resembles its seaside relative, 
except for a shorter tail and somewhat angry moods. Though it inhabits 
the same small islands, it has never been known to mingle with the marine 
iguana, or, indeed, to venture near enough to water to make its acquaint¬ 
ance. It obtains its drinking water from cactus plants. 

The land iguana’s food consists of berries, hard-spined cactus leaves, 

83 



and the limbs of acacia trees. Sometimes the iguana climbs trees to feed. 
The seeds in the droppings of these lizards help in spreading plant life. 
Like the marine iguanas, they live in peace with their neighbors, often 
sharing their vegetable food with a bird or tortoise. Only in captivity do 
they grow savage and fight among themselves. 

Land iguanas dig burrows in old lava or eroded limestone, scraping 
lackadaisically with one paw while the other rests. 


RHINOCEROS IGUANA 


The dark brown rhinoceros iguana of Haiti and Puerto Rico is so-called 
because of the three blunt protuberances on its snout, the largest attaining 
a length of only three-eighths of one inch. With its massive head, its hanging 
throat pouch, its bulging jaws and the loose folds of skin covering its shoul¬ 
ders and neck, it looks like a fantastic reconstruction of some prehistoric 
reptile. These creatures will often squat perfectly motionless on their hind 
quarters, remaining for hours in an attitude of timeless impassivity. They 
attain a length of four and one-half feet. 

The iguana is a great fighter, swishing its powerful spiny tail, gnash¬ 
ing its teeth and snatching with its claws. If approached by an inexperienced 
human it can inflict as much damage as a wildcat, but if grasped by the 
hind legs and the back of its neck, it is powerless. The rhinoceros iguana 
is a favored item among lizard-lovers in the United States, bringing as 
much as fifty dollars a head. It is hunted with the aid of dogs specially 
trained for the purpose. 

In captivity the rhinoceros iguana gradually grows tame until it eats 
quietly out of its keeper’s hand. It is especially fond of young chickens, 
which it kills by shaking them about with its jaws. If the chicken is too 
large to swallow whole, it will be shaken into chunks. Rats, bits of beef, 
bananas, berries, lettuce and celery are also appreciated. 


84 



' | J, 




American Museum of Natural History. 


RHINOCEROS IGUANAS FIGHTING (Metopocerus cornutus). Length: 4 y 2 feet. 
Range: Haiti and Puerto Rico. 



American Museum of Natural History. 


GALAPAGOS LAND IGUANA (Conolophus 
subcristatus). Length: 4^ feet. Range: 
Galapagos Islands. 


COMMON IGUANA 


The common iguana is well known throughout tropical South America for 
its white, chickenlike meat, which is an important source of native food. 
This lizard is a pale, greenish-gray color, marked with black bars on the 
sides. The females display a somewhat darker hue, while the young show 
patches of light green. A striking characteristic is the row of soft, leathery, 
lancelike spines covering its neck and back. These creatures may weigh 
as much as thirty pounds, yet despite this weight, they spend most of their 
time in trees where they balance themselves on slender branches with 
their forelegs dangling down on the side in a slovenly, nonchalant manner. 
A peculiarity of this species is a large, circular shield beneath the eardrum. 

Though largely herbivorous, they also like to eat young birds, rats, 
mice and worms. The young scurry about in search of insects and grubs and 
are even capable of catching flies on the wing. 

Common iguanas often mistake telegraph poles for trees, clustering on 
them in great numbers and nodding gravely as a train passes. 

They doze in the trees above a river bank. If startled, they dive into 
the water, sometimes from a great height. They swim swiftly — the only 
water animals in their habitat capable of out-distancing them are the croco- 
dilians. 

The common iguana makes its home in a burrow, dug horizontally in 
the riverbank. Twenty-four eggs are laid each spring and hatch in May. 
The contents are mainly yolk and therefore useless for coating meringue 
pies, but they are widely used by the natives of South America who cook 
them and eat them fried, or pickled and dried. 

These creatures are prepared for market by tying their hind legs to¬ 
gether with their own tendons. Occasionally iguanas arrive in New York 
in this manner. Despite their weeks of discomfort, they behave in a per¬ 
fectly normal manner when released. 

The habits of iguanas have been studied in some detail by Barbour, 
Ramsden, Noble, Grant and other workers who have concerned themselves 
with neotropical reptiles. 


86 



TURKS ISLANDS IGUANAS (Cyclura carinata ). Length: 3 feet. Range: Turks 
Islands, West Indies. 



SPINY LIZARDS (Zo- 
nurus giganteus). 
Length: 15 inches. 
Range: South Africa. 


V 



HORNED “TOADS” 


The horned “toads” common in the deserts of the central and southern 
United States hunt beetles and other insects during the hottest part of the 
day. Before nightfall they burrow into the sand by a series of odd con¬ 
tortions and remain buried for the night. These lizards have flat, broad 
bodies, resembling a toad’s, and are covered with spiny scales of varying 
size. Their colors — a sprinkled yellow, gray, black and brown — constitute 
an excellent desert camouflage. 

The horns, which give this reptile a rather menacing appearance, are 
bony spines protruding from the head and back, the longest being those on 
the head. Usually slow-moving, horned lizards run swiftly if they have to. 
They are harmless to man. 

Texas horned lizards are often caught by tourists as souvenirs of 
their trip. They usually die of improper food, cold, dampness or lack of 
sun. This species has two large spines on the center of the head and three 
on each temple. The Pacific horned lizard has a narrower body than the 
Texan variety, though its tail is thicker and longer. When angry it puff's 
up, its eyes bulge and squirt tiny jets of blood. The reddish color of this 
lizard is relieved by a brownish spot on each shoulder and three stripes 
of the same color on its back. 

When the crowned lizard of Lower California burrows into the sand 
for the night, its tallest spines often remain above the surface like peri¬ 
scopes. When it first emerges in the morning, the reptile is lethargic, but 
in the noonday heat it becomes very active in pursuing flies, ants, worms, 
caterpillars and moths. When chased, these creatures run swiftly for a few 
yards and then stop to nod their heads. In the winter they like to hibernate. 
If prevented from so doing, they will go on living through the cold weather, 
but when spring comes, they usually die. 


88 



PACIFIC HORNED “TOAD” 
(Plirynosoma blainvillii). 
Length: 6 inches. Range: 
Southern and Lower Cali¬ 
fornia. 



George L. Dowden. 


BANDED BASILISK (Basiliscus vittatus ). Length: 2 feet. Range: 
Mexico to Ecuador. 



From Ditmars’ REPTILES OF THE WORLD. 


COLLARED LIZARD (Crotaphytus 
collar is ). Length: 1 foot. 

Range: Central and western 
United States. 


American Museum of Natural History. 




AGAMAS 

“FLYING DRAGON” 


“Flying dragons” make their home high up in trees or tall grasses, de¬ 
scending to earth so rarely that they are seldom seen by man. But when 
danger threatens, these tree lizards glide gracefully to the ground with 
the help of winglike membranes which can be opened or closed at will. 
They do not actually fly. A Celeban species uses its “wings” in courtship 
display. 

These reptiles show great agility in hunting insects, leaping through 
the air like a dart; when not hunting, they lie motionless with their flat 
bodies pressed close to the bark of a tree limb. The tail of this reptile, 
though long and slender, does not easily break off. A skin sac or dewlap 
hangs from the “dragon’s” throat. This lizard lays oval white eggs in batches 
of three or four. 

There are about twenty species of “flying dragons,” varying as to size 
and color. It is a curious fact that these reptiles have the same range, the 
Indo-Malayan region, as those strange mammals, the “flying” lemurs, whose 
aerial habits they approximate. 


“BLOODSUCKER” 


The “bloodsucker” lizard is not a vampire; it owes its misleading name 
to its faculty of changing color when angry or eating: the head and neck 
turn a bright red, while the body changes from brown to yellow. Of its 
total length of fourteen inches, its tail occupies eleven. 

The female deposits about one dozen oval, soft-shelled eggs in leaf 
mold or in the cracks in a rotting log. The young require approximately 
two months to hatch. This lizard’s range is India, Afghanistan and southern 
China. 


90 



From Ditmars’ REPTILES OF THE WORLD. 


FLYING DRAGON” (Draco volans). Length: 9 inches. Range: Malaysia, 



91 






A larger species from Ceylon and southern India is also called “blood¬ 
sucker,” because its head and neck turn red when it is excited. This reptile, 
Deraniyagala reports, attains a length of two feet. 

Another colorful species is known from Turkestan and is remarkable 
for the extreme variations of its colors. The usual color scheme is brown 
above with dark markings, and white or light brownish below. The whole 
body may turn a dirty white, black or grayish-brown. Red may appear in 
patches and lines on the males, and in larger patches on the females. The 
male can show blue stripes, and sometimes can become blue altogether. 
These color changes are not protective, for the brighter the sun shines, the 
more conspicuous does the lizard become. 

Agama stellio, found in southwestern Europe, Asia Minor and Egypt, 
is killed by pious Mohammedans because they believe it to be mocking 
their prayers as it nods its head, runs, stops, and nods again when pursued. 
It is also exhibited by snake-charmers. The liardim, as it is called locally, 
reaches a length of fifteen inches; it has large neck folds, and its back is 
covered with spines. The ancient Greeks called it korkodilos. 


SPINY-TAILED LIZARDS 


Ranging throughout the deserts of North Africa, Arabia, Persia, Syria and 
northwest India, the spiny-tailed lizards, or mastigures, have a heavy tail, 
covered with strong spines. They have small, smooth scales on their body 
and head. These lizards spend their nights and cool days in burrows, which 
are sometimes as long as four feet. When danger approaches, they dart 
inside their burrows. When once their forefeet and heads are inside, they 
will allow themselves to be pulled apart rather than emerge. The Arabs 
esteem their flesh as food, alleging that it tastes like chicken. 

When first made captive these lizards were observed not to drink 
water, and consequently they did not long survive. Then it was accidentally 
discovered that the mastigures absorbed their moisture from the air through 
the skin. After that an artificial spray was devised to give the same effect 
as desert dew and when so treated they thrived. These lizards usually 
measure not more than a foot and a half in length. 

92 



SPINY-TAILED MASTIGURE (Uromastix spinipes). Length: 
II /2 feet. Range: Sahara, Africa. 



ARMED SAIL-TAILED LIZARD (Acanthosaura ar- 
mata). Length: 2 feet. Range: Southeastern Asia. 




CHAMELEONS 


Chameleons are the apes of the reptile world. With the help of their forked 
feet and long, prehensile tails, they move among the treetops in a slow 
and nonchalant, but highly acrobatic fashion. 

Prominent features of these lizards are their helmet-shaped heads and 
bulging uncoordinated eyes. One eye may be staring at an insect which 
the reptile contemplates devouring, while the other rolls around, taking in 
a wider view of the arboreal landscape. After deliberately studying its 
prey — preferably a grasshopper, cricket or spider — for some minutes, the 
chameleon darts out its sticky tongue, sometimes to a length of six or seven 
inches, and snaps the victim back into its jaws. The lizard chews the food 
before swallowing. 

Male chameleons fight furiously among themselves, most often for 
food or mates. On one occasion a moth was seized by two of these crea¬ 
tures and pulled back and forth in a veritable tug of war. A single branch, 
it appears, contains room for no more than two chameleons. If a third 
appears, the other two attack him, swaying from side to side like Bowery 
toughs. Sometimes the intruder is intimidated, but often a savage battle 
ensues. The reptiles tussle with their claws, bite, mount on each other’s 
backs, and butt with their heads. On the ground they are clumsy and almost 
helpless. 

Like many other lizards, chameleons are remarkable for their color 
changes. Their most common shades are yellow and yellowish-brown, but 
they may turn green, black or gray, or else they may become mottled or 
blotched with these colors. Experiments show that these changes are not 
protective. They occur as reactions to sunlight, temperature changes, anger, 
sickness and death. One specimen placed in a position to receive sunlight 
through a wire grating showed the design of the grating for half a minute 
after its removal from the sun. 

Chameleons may lay as many as forty eggs. The young are ludicrous 
in appearance, having heads out of all proportion to their bodies. In cap¬ 
tivity this lizard lays no eggs and shows little enthusiasm for food, though 
it does drink much water. Its body may become thin and translucent, and 

94 




New York Zoological Society. 


COMMON CHAMELEON (Chameleon vulgaris). Length: 6 inches. Range: Medi¬ 
terranean countries. 


New York Zoological Society. 



COMMON CHAMELEON DESCENDING 


it is a rare chameleon that lives for more than five months in “protective 
custody.” 

The three-horned chameleon, an East African species, is feared and 
hated by the natives, who erroneously believe it to be poisonous. The horns 
are coveted as ornaments by the women, who string them on necklaces. 
A young man who seizes one of the lizards and cuts off its horns is consid¬ 
ered exceedingly brave. 


AMERICAN “CHAMELEON” 


The American “chameleon,” which is technically no chameleon at all, 
but an anole, changes its color according to light and temperature condi¬ 
tions and according to its emotional state. In the trees, these creatures, all 
of five inches long including their three-inch tail, are hard to detect because 
they assume the dull brown color of tree bark. It is their bright eyes that 
sometimes give them away to collectors who sell them at fairs and circuses. 

When two males meet, they nod their heads as if to acknowledge one 
another’s presence. Then the skin of the throat is distended into a dewlap, 
and turns a bright pink, while the body turns gray. A moment later they 
are dashing back and forth, locked in battle. After the fight the loser turns 
a dull yellow and usually departs without his tail. The victor, however, 
turns a vivid green for some minutes, before gradually resuming his native 
brown. 

These anoles are catlike in seeking their food. They move slowly until 
within a few inches of their victim — a gnat, butterfly, beetle, spider, wasp 
or scorpion — then they extend their tongue and spring. 

A larger relative, the Cuban anole, attaining a length of sixteen inches, 
lives among mangoes, palms and other tropical trees. The body of this 
creature is green, its neck pouch yellow. It feeds on fruits and berries, and 
lays its eggs in the hollows of trees. The adults rarely descend to the 
ground, while the young hide among the dense leaves of the treetops. The 
males are exceedingly pugnacious. When they fight, a ridge temporarily 
forms on their back. 


96 


James P. Chapin, American Museum of Natural History. 

THREE-HORNED CHAMELEON (Chameleon johnstoni ). Length: 1 foot. Range: 
Belgian Congo, Africa. 



Dr. H. Hediger. 


COMMON CHAMELEON SWIMMING 







SNAKES 


According to legend, the entire serpentine population of Ireland fell vic¬ 
tim to the doughty shillelah of St. Patrick. Be that as it may, there really 
are no snakes in Ireland. New Zealand, and a few isolated oceanic islands 
of recent formation such as the Azores, must have had their St. Patricks, 
too, for these regions are also snakeless. However, with these exceptions, 
all parts of the temperate and tropical world have representatives of the 
twenty-three hundred existing species of snakes. 

As a rule the snakes that come most often to the attention of people 
are those noted for some spectacular habit or feat—real or fictitious. Con¬ 
sequently snakes, for the average reader, are things that drop out of trees 
to strangle men in their coils, and creep into tents and houses in India 
to kill people with their poisonous fangs. There are snakes that can do 
these things, in tropical America as well as India. But the great majority 
are not only harmless in their dealings with man but even help him to 
control rodent and insect pests. 

The large snakes, such as pythons and boas, are not the only ones 
capable of swallowing prey many times their own girth. All snakes can 
perform this feat because their jaws readily spread both at the hinges and 
at the front where the two halves of the lower jaw are held together with 
an elastic ligament, unlike the fixed jaws of lizards. Legless lizards should 
not be confused with snakes. 

Contrary to popular opinion snakes have good vision. Tests made by 
Warkentin show that sight is temporarily disturbed just before they shed 
their skins, because the cornea becomes opaque until the skin is sloughed 
off. Just after shedding, the sight is keenest. 

For convenience the ten families of snakes have been grouped in the 
following popular classification: 

Worm-like Snakes are small, harmless creatures, seldom seen because 
of their burrowing habits. They include about one hundred species of 
blind, blunt-tailed and shiny-scaled typhlopids found in almost all tropical 
countries; the twenty-five closely related leptotyphlopids (sometimes called 
glauconids) of the warmer regions of the Americas, southwestern Asia and 

99 

6 


Africa; the beautifully colored ilysiids, found only in tropical South Amer¬ 
ica and the Indo-Malayan region; the worm-eating, forest-living uropeltids 
of Ceylon and southern India, forty in number; and the three-foot-long 
xenopeltid of southeastern Asia. Only a single species of the last family is 
known. 

Constrictors range in size from the sand boas measuring less than a 
yard in length to the monster anacondas which have been known to attain 
thirty feet. Pythons and boas are subdivisions of the family Boidae. The 
pythons differ from the boas chiefly in that they possess an extra skull 
bone, the supraorbital, and that they are confined with but one exception 
to the Old World while for the most part the boas are situated in tropical 
America. One very rare python is found in Mexico. In all about seventy 
species are known. 

Harmless Snakes include the great majority of typical colubrid snakes. 
They inhabit almost all parts of the globe and may be found in terrains 
as diverse as arid deserts, dense jungles and high mountains. Some of 
these snakes burrow beneath the humus of forests and are small-headed and 
shorttailed; others that dwell in deserts are rough-scaled and colored in 
die pallid tones of their habitat; typical ground-dwellers are cylindrical, 
having in addition distinct heads and fairly long tails; aquatic species are 
provided with nostril valves which can be closed during periods of sub¬ 
mergence; tree snakes tend to be greatly elongated and whiplike. 

Many of the species included in this grouping are beneficial to farmers 
as destroyers of rodents and insects. A bull snake has been known to eat 
as many as thirty-five field mice in one day. Some farmers catch bull 
snakes, place them at the entrance of gopher rat holes, and applaud the 
usefully destructive work of the snakes. 

Sea Snakes are elapids adapted to aquatic life. Like some other water 
snakes their nostrils are provided with valves. The tails of these front-fanged 
snakes are flattened vertically and serve as sculling or sweep oars. About 
fifty species have been described from the Indian and Pacific Oceans. 
Sea snakes range in size from four to twelve feet. All are poisonous al¬ 
though the majority of individuals are rather good-natured and seem not 
to mind being handled. 

Rear-fanged Poisonous Snakes include aquatic species which inhabit 
the fresh waters and estuaries of the Indo-Australian region. They include 

100 


an egg-eater known only from Bengal, some poisonous tree snakes, gliding 
snakes and sand snakes. Because of the situation of their fangs, they find 
it difficult to bring them into play. However, a few of the larger species 
such as the boomslang of South Africa are dangerous to man. The venom 
injected by this arboreal serpent affects the blood stream of victims, de¬ 
stroying numbers of red corpuscles and increasing the white cells. This 
type of toxic action is called haemolytic in contradistinction to the neuro¬ 
toxic, or nerve-paralyzing effects characteristic of cobras, coral snakes and 
kraits. Vipers and rattlers also dispense a haemolytic type of poison. 

Front-fanged Poisonous Snakes or elapids are to be found in all 
tropical countries. Some of the deadliest of all snakes are included in 
this classification. Typical examples are the banded coral snakes of tropical 
America, the southern United States, and Australia, the six-foot hooded 
black snake, the tiger snake, the viperlike death “adder,” the death-dealing 
kraits which are responsible in part for the high snake-bite mortality in 
Malaya, the South African tree-living mamba, and the well-known cobras 
of Africa and southern Asia. 

Movable-fanged Poisonous Snakes (vipers and rattlesnakes) differ 
from other poisonous snakes in that their fangs are situated on the front 
of their upper jaws and, as indicated, are movable. This permits the snake 
to fold its fangs back into a position parallel to the roof of the mouth 
when they are not in use. Vipers and rattlers are cosmopolitan except for 
the Australian region and Madagascar. Most members of this ordei are 
large, stout snakes with fairly prominent flattened heads. 


SNAKE-BITE 


To date there is no accurate means of even estimating the number of 
deaths from snake-bite each year throughout the world. This is due largely 
to the difficulty of keeping a faithful check on some of the more congested 
regions of the East, where most of these fatalities occur. In India alone, 
for instance, it is believed that as many as 20,000 natives fall victim each 
year to the different varieties of deadly snakes which infest the peninsula. 
But there is still no way of establishing the accuracy of this figure. 

101 



SNAKE-BITE 


HOW A RATTLESNAKE BITES 


RESTING COIL 


CRAWLING POSITION 


STRIKING COIL 



FANGS ADVANCED 

FOLDED FOR ACTION 


STRIKING 


MODEL HEAD. WITH SKIN REMOVED. 
SHOWING RIGHT POISON GLAND AND 
DUCT LEADING TO ONE OF THE TWO 
HYPODERMIC NEEDLE-LIKE FANGS. 




SNAKE-BITE TREATMENT 


SNAKE-BITE SUCTION OUTFIT 

1. TOURNIQUET 3. RAZOR BLADE 5. LARGE APPLICATOR 

2. ANTISEPTIC 4 . SMALL APPLICATOR AND SUCTION BULB 



PREPARATION OF WOUND FOR 
TREATMENT 

PHOTOS BY L.M KLAUBER: AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY . SHARP AND DOHME: RALPH DE SOLA. FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT 



REMOVING POISON WITH SUCTION BULB PRIOR TO 
ANTIVENIN INJECTION 



































In the United States, however, we know definitely that snake-bites 
account for the death of only slightly more than one hundred and fifty per¬ 
sons each year, while estimates based on careful research have placed the 
yearly number of snake-bites as somewhere between fifteen hundred and 
two thousand. This is far less than the 30,000 persons killed each year by 
automobiles in tbe United States. Yet, strangely enough, most people are 
still much more afraid of snakes than they are of motor vehicles. Fiom 
the figures it may be seen that only some ten per cent of all snake bites in 
this country prove fatal. This is not a very high figure, when one considers 
the toxic powers which characterize some of our more poisonous serpents. 
These figures could be lowered appreciably if persons frequenting snake- 
infested areas would only exercise a minimum of caution. 

To Avoid Being Bitten 

There are many who enjoy camping, hiking, and other outdoor activi¬ 
ties which may lead them through wooded or brush areas where poisonous 
snakes are apt to be found. It is wise for such persons to take a few pre¬ 
cautions, in order that the hazard's of outdoor life may be minimized. 

A pair of thick canvas or leather leggings is an excellent piotection 
against the poisonous reptiles found in the northern United States. High 
shoes should be worn with the leggings, for otherwise a portion of the 
ankle is left exposed and so becomes an excellent target for the snake. 
One should also be wary while climbing or pushing one’s way through thick 
underbrush to see that the hands are not thoughtlessly thrust into the neigh¬ 
borhood of a snake crevice or den. Eyes should be on the alert continually, 
as their use is the best guarantee of safety. Foremost, however, one can 
save time, trouble and worry by finding out about the snakes of the region 
in some reliable book. Frequently poisonous snakes are found in but re¬ 
stricted parts of their range and consequently many local areas are free 
of them. For example, Long Island, New York, is free of venomous snakes 

although at one time rattlers were known. 

Unfortunately no hard and fast rule of thumb can be given to differ¬ 
entiate poisonous from harmless species. In general, however, the pupils 
of poisonous serpents are elliptical while those of all but one or two harm¬ 
less species are round. The relatively thick heads and tapering necks of 

103 


rattlers and copperheads also helps to distinguish them but is a misleading 
character because it is also found in boas and pythons. 

In southerly areas of the United States, and in the tropics, where 
weather conditions tend to reduce the resistance-value of leggings, the best 
possible protection is a pair of leather puttees thick enough to be impreg¬ 
nable against the fangs of any snake. In the southern United States, it is 
wise also to be wary of hollow tree trunks. They serve in many cases as 
the hiding places of venomous reptiles. 

First Aid Kits for persons travelling in snake infested regions should 
contain a suction-bulb snake-bite outfit, as illustrated, and two tubes of the 
anti-venin for combatting the venoms of the snakes of the region. 


If Bitten 

Don’t give whisky or alcoholic drinks of any kind. Alcoholic stimu¬ 
lants will only step up the circulation of the blood, hastening the action 
of the venom. 

Don’t burn or cauterize the wound. 

Don’t use any of the so-called “folklore” remedies. They are useless, 
and in many cases downright harmful. 

Don’t apply any whole grains of potassium permanganate to the 
wound. However, a weak solution may be made with water and washed 
into the incisions. This will neutralize any venom the solution reaches. 

(1) The victim should be encouraged to remain as calm as possible. Ex¬ 
citement will only send the blood racing to the heart, and speed the 
absorption of the venom. He should be reminded that the bites of 
American snakes are rarely fatal, especially with any kind of treat¬ 
ment. Get the patient to a hospital or to a doctor as soon as possible. 
In the meantime — 

(2) A tourniquet should be applied just above the bite, between it and 
the heart. Cord, rubber tubing, or even a necktie will do. Pressure 
should not be so great as to stop blood circulation entirely. The idea 
is to halt the flow of lymph. Loosen the tourniquet for a minute at 
fifteen minute intervals. 

(3) Connect the two fang punctures with a single incision of a clean, 
sharp-bladed instrument, preferably a single-edged safety razor blade. 

104 


The cut should be approximately one-quarter of an inch deep, or in 
cases where an unusually large snake has been responsible for the bite, 
three-eighths of an inch deep. The blade should be sterilized before 
the operation with iodine, alcohol, or even the flame of a match. 

(4) Apply suction by means of the suction-bulb included in the snake-bite 
kit, or with the lips if necessary. The latter method should not be 
undertaken by anyone with sores in his mouth. Suction should be con¬ 
tinued for at least a half hour. 

(5) If anti-venin serum is available, use according to the instructions on 
the package. But in any case the suction operation should also be per¬ 
formed, as either of these techniques alone does not constitute a com¬ 
plete treatment. 

(6) If the swelling progresses up the limb, make additional incisions at 
the point of swelling, and repeat the suction treatment. The tourniquet, 
however, should always be kept above the swollen area. It is best to 
apply a second tourniquet in such cases, before removing the original 
one. 

(7) If the victim is faint, he should be given some strong coffee or tea. 

A great many people are bitten each year by harmless snakes; much 
undue excitement is caused. However, the bite of a venomous snake is un¬ 
mistakable since it causes a burning pain in the region of the bite within 
one to five minutes. After such an attack, a swelling develops within ten 
minutes. Without these symptoms there is' nothing to fear, and the bite 
may be treated as any other wound or ignored if the snake is small. 

It is interesting to note that snake venom has positive as well as nega¬ 
tive values. Persons afflicted with epilepsy, arthritis, asthma and cancer have 
responded to treatments employing snake venom in excessively minute 
doses. 


105 


WORM-LIKE SNAKES 

BLIND SNAKES 


One morning some burghers of Calcutta turned on the water for their 
baths and were amazed to see dark brown, wormlike creatures some six 
inches in length issuing from the faucets. When identified, the intruders 
proved to be blind snakes, a subterranean species with eyes covered over 
by scales and a short, sharp spine at their rear extremity. These reptiles, 
which come to the surface of the ground only in wet weather, are good 
swimmers. They are believed not to be totally blind, but to be capable of 
distinguishing between light and darkness. Sometimes they invade houses 
in throngs of one hundred or more. 

Blind snakes are timid, inoffensive creatures, whose only defenses 
against aggressors are their subterranean life and their armorlike scales, 
which protect them from the soldier ants sharing their abode. They are 
valuable to man as destroyers of snake and insect eggs and of termites, 
which in many countries destroy the wooden underpinning of rural dwell¬ 
ings. Another item on their menu is caterpillar droppings. 

Above ground, these creatures progress smoothly and actively. When 
angry they dart out their tongues like other snakes. Their smooth, shiny 
scales prevent the earth from sticking to them as they burrow. Because 
of a similarity of appearance between head and tail some Indian natives 
believe them to be two-headed. Wall observes that as a defense these 
reptiles emit a foul-smelling anal discharge, which may also serve to help 
the sexes find one another in the mating season. 

A blind snake placed on a table by one investigator, tied itself into 
a knot. The knot was not untied by reverse action, but by moving forward, 
so that the knot passed down the body and off the tail. 

It is believed that only the younger and smaller specimens are seen 
at the surface, while the adults burrow deeper and do not emerge. These 
creatures are believed to slough their skins underground, but the candid 
camera has not yet surprised them in the act. The blind snake’s eggs, two 
to seven in number, resemble cooked rice grains. 

106 


From Ditmars> REPTILES OF THE WORLD. 


YELLOW-HEADED WORM SNAKE (Leptotyphlops albifrons). Length: 8 inches. 
Range: Tropical America. 


ROUGH-TAILED EARTHSNAKES 


The rough-tailed earthsnakes, of which there are some forty species, 
differing from one another only as to scalation, burrow through the soil 
of damp mountain forests or of gardens. These eighteen-inch, blackish crea¬ 
tures are timid and slow-moving, repelling other subterranean animals with 
their shieldlike tail. They are valuable to farmers as eaters of insects. 
They bring forth their young alive. 

Leptotyphlops decima is the smallest known snake, attaining a length 
of no more than four inches. The leptotyphlopids, of whose thirty species 
this is one, have teeth only in the lower jaw; they approach the lizards in 
hone structure, in that they have pronounced pelvic girdles. They are 
known to lay eggs. Leptotyphlopids inhabit the tropical regions of America, 
Africa and southwestern Asia. 


107 


CONSTRICTORS 

REGAL PYTHON 


The regal or reticulated python is the largest known snake, one specimen 
having attained a length of thirty-two feet. The average adult length is 
about twenty-two feet, while two hundred and twenty-five pounds is con¬ 
sidered a good weight. The glistening skin of these giant constrictors is 
covered with an intricate yellow-brown and black design. The head is brown 
with a narrow black line extending backward from the snout, and the eyes 
are red with vertical pupils. 

Goats, leopards, sheep, swans, and other mammals and birds are 
among the constrictor’s victims. Although a fourteen-year-old boy was once 
found in the stomach of a dead python, the snake’s man-eating propensities 
have been exaggerated by legend and in the Swiss Family Robinson. Be¬ 
cause pythons insist on swallowing their victims head first, it is doubtful 
whether the largest of them could swallow a full-grown man; measure¬ 
ments show that the shoulders would be too large for the serpent’s gullet. 

The python attacks its victim by tossing its body around it; in less 
than a few seconds two or three coils surround the prey. Then the reptile 
begins to squeeze. It does not, as popularly supposed, kill by crushing the 
bones, but merely by halting breathing and circulation. Reptiles are more 
difficult to kill by constriction, as the circulatory system of cold-blooded 
animals is less sensitive. In a battle with a lizard, the python comes out 
victor, but half kills itself in the process. 

After swallowing its food, the python becomes sluggish and helpless 
until digestion is nearly completed, and this may take weeks. In this con¬ 
dition the snake is an easy victim for hunters. Natives kill it for food 
and for its beautiful skin, which is made into leather. 

When the python’s meal is digested, the snake — if it has escaped the 
hunter — becomes restless until its appetite is again appeased. 

In captivity a sixteen-pound python swallows an eight-pound rooster 
whole in ten minutes. A twenty-foot python dines on two chickens every ten 
days, while another specimen of the same length devours a twenty-five- 

108 



REGAL PYTHON 


Raymond L. Ditmars, New York Zoological Society. 

(Python reticulatus ). Length: 25 feet. Range: Malaysia. 



W. Lincoln Highton, Works Progress Administration, 


BALL OR ROYAL PYTHON (Python regius ). 
Length: 6 feet. Range: Tropical West 
Africa. 






pound pig. After a meal the python coils up in its shallow bathing pool 
and remains there for about one week. 

When first captured, most regal pythons refuse to eat and must be 
subjected to forced feeding. In one case twelve keepers were required to 
hold the monster while four skinned rabbits were being rammed down its 
throat with a pole. Actually the snake is no stronger than a powerful man, 
and it is only because of its length that so many men are needed to hold 
it still. 

It has been calculated by Benedict that a seventy-pound python needs 
one hundred and eight calories per day to keep it in good condition. A 
human being of twice the weight requires from fifteen to sixty times as 
much. A python may at one meal eat four hundred times as much food as 
it needs for a single day. This enables the reptile to fast for months without 
ill effects. One python fasted for seventeen months, during which time 
it lost half its weight but remained otherwise healthy. A few pythons have 
survived captivity for periods in excess of twenty years. 


INDIAN PYTHON 

Though somewhat shorter than the regal, the Indian or black-tailed python 
looks larger when coiled, because of its greater thickness. This species has 
two distinct types of coloration, one dark olive with black markings, the 
other tan, marked with olive-brown and usually showing a pinkish line 
on either side of its head. Both types have a dark, spear-shaped figure 
on the top of their heads. All are also known as rock pythons and are found 
in Ceylon as well as India. 

Though Indian pythons when captured also refuse food at first, they 
are easier to keep in captivity than their regal cousins. They can travel 
without losing their appetite and easily adapt themselves to circus life. 
They grow sluggish and docile, so that gullible sideshow audiences believe 
that they have been charmed. An Indian python may become so attached 
to its master that it will take food from no one else. These snakes have 
lived in captivity for twenty years. 

Other well-known pythons are the thickset African rock python, averag¬ 
ing about eighteen feet in length; and the carpet and diamond snakes of 

110 



New York Zoological Society. 

SOUTH AMERICAN BOA OR BOA CONSTRICTOR (Constrictor constrictor). 
Length: 10 feet. Range: Tropical Central and South America. 


Australia, which attain respective lengths of eleven and nine feet and are 
known to swallow the kangaroo-like wallabies of the region. Another con¬ 
strictor is the beautifully colored green python of New Guinea. 


COMMON BOA 


Not the least of the virtues of the common boa of South America is the 
fact that it preys upon the mongoose. The mongoose was brought to South 
America to prey upon poisonous snakes but tricked its sponsors by also 
developing an appetite for chicken. 

When the boa stretches its body to cross from tree to tree there may 
be all of ten feet of snake suspended between the boughs. The related 
water boa, or anaconda, sometimes attains the length of twenty-five feet. 

These snakes are remarkably prolific, a captive specimen having 

111 



borne sixty-four living young. Some boas have endured the enforced se¬ 
curity of zoo life for more than twenty years. 

In climbing, the snake encircles the trunk with the hind part of its 
body, raising the fore part which entwines itself higher up. When the 
fore part has secured its hold, the hind part is drawn up and again coiled 
round the trunk. Crossings from tree to tree are made by stretching the 
body across the intervening space while the hind part still holds fast to 
the first tree. When the fore part has a good grip on the second tree, the 
rest of the body is swung across. 


CUBAN BOA 


The Cuban boa or maja is ten feet long. Its large bright eyes give it a 
most wicked appearance, which is not belied by its temper. This species 
seldom becomes resigned to captivity and usually strikes its head against 
the glass of its cage until pain and fatigue force it to stop. As it strikes, it 
emits a short, broken hiss. 

In the wild state it serves sugar cane planters by eating rats and 
preying upon the destructive mongoose. 


SAND BOA 


The sand boa of India obtains its food by crawling into the burrows of 
rodents, crushing the inhabitants against the walls. Most of its life is 
spent in subterranean passageways. This species, about a yard long, has 
earned the name of two-headed, because of a stumpy tail sometimes mis¬ 
taken for a head. Some Hindus, intent upon deceiving tourists, paint mouth 
and eyes on the reptile’s tail and assure gullible foreigners that one head 
sleeps while the other watches. 

When first captured, sand boas strike swiftly in a series of wounding 
blows. One specimen lived for more than twenty years in Regent’s Park, 
London. 


112 



EMERALD TREE BOAS (Boa canina) 
Guianas. 




RUBBER BOA 


The pygmy rubber boa, inhabiting the Pacific coast of the United States, 
has received its name because, with its cylindrical, stubby form, it looks 
like a two-foot length of grayish rubber hose. This snake is very gentle. 
When frightened, it twists itself into a ball-shaped mass, so round that 
it can be rolled about or even tossed about, like a ball. 

In devouring mice and other rodents, it kills them by constriction 
before swallowing. Feeding takes place in the early hours of the day when 
the boa is most active. The rubber boa frequently climbs rough-barked 
trees and reposes for hours stretched out on a limb. 


113 



HARMLESS SNAKES 

TREE SNAKES 


As tree snakes weave in and out of the boughs, they resemble beautifully 
colored vines or twigs. Swaying their heads and bronze, golden-green necks 
from side to side, they seem to undulate gently with the breeze. 

The adult tree snake may be from two to five feet in length. Its head 
is distinct, and it has large bright eyes. 

Feeding on lizards and tree frogs, the tree snake will dart away into 
the underbrush if disturbed. Cornered, it turns and attempts to bluff the 
pursuer with menacing gestures. Jaws wide agape and head weaving from 
side to side, these delicate serpents vainly strive to appear sinister. 

As a rule the lustrous body of the tree snake is not distinctly marked. 
Most species, however, have a black line extending from the eye to the 
corner of the mouth. 


GARTER SNAKES 


Garter snakes are probably the last of the snakes of the eastern United 
States to go into hibernation and the first to emerge. In March, when the 
snow has not yet completely melted, they can be seen basking in the sun¬ 
light. Specimens have been found at altitudes exceeding five thousand 
feet. 

Hardy and stubbornly resisting extinction, the garter snake is one of 
the commonest snakes east of the Mississippi, often found in parks and 
gardens within the confines of large cities. 

Usually in August the female garter snake gives birth to her litter, 
which numbers from seventeen to about thirty. As soon as they are born, 
they make their own way in the world, feeding upon small earthworms 
until the hibernation period. In spring, when the ground is moist and 
their diet abundant, they grow rapidly until they are able to partake of 
larger morsels like young toads and frogs. The young garter snake is 

114 



From Ditmars’ REPTILES OF THE WORLD. 


GARTER SNAKE AND YOUNG (Thamnophis sirtalis). Length: 3 feet. Range: 
Eastern North America. 

This unusual photograph was made to illustrate the fact that snakes do not 
eat their young although placed in proximity with them. It is also true that 
snakes do not care for their offspring, although garter snakes bring them 
forth alive. 


115 




mature at the age of one year and can breed during the following spring. 
The fully developed adult is about thirty inches long. 

Garter snakes live for a long time in captivity and grow quite tame 
and affectionate. Some have lived for more than ten years in cages. When 
first caught, however, they give off a strongly offensive odor from glands 
situated near the base of the tail as well as feces discharged from the anus. 

An almost universal belief among country people is that garter snakes 
swallow their young at the approach of danger. When Ditmars published 
an article, exposing this superstition, it was greeted by a storm of protest. 
Many wrote that they had actually seen the phenomenon. A possible ex¬ 
planation of this belief is that some snakes, such as the king snake, often 
swallow the young of other snakes, while if a dead female garter snake 
is cut open at the proper season, the unborn, but fully developed young 
may be found inside. 


RIBBON SNAKES 


The ribbon snake is found throughout southeastern Canada and the United 
States east of the Mississippi River. 

Subsisting entirely on small fishes and amphibians, the ribbon snake 
dares not leave the immediate vicinity of water. This slender, dainty snake 
makes its home in meadows and swampy lowlands or along the edges of 
streams and ponds where fishes, frogs and tadpoles are plentiful. 

Should danger threaten, it plunges into the water if any is handy and 
takes refuge in the aquatic growths at the bottom until it believes it is 
safe. The ribbon snake swims and dives with all the agility of a water 
snake. 

The ribbon snake seems to have difficulty in spotting stationary prey. 
As soon as there is a slight motion, however, the snake lunges forward and 
seizes its victim before it can make another move. 

This sensitivity to movement is said to be used by ribbon snakes in 
captivity as a means of deceiving each other. When food is dumped into 
their cage, they seize the morsels with their mouths and begin to eat. 

116 


New York Zoological Society. 


HOG-NOSED SNAKE (Heterodon contortrix). Length: 3 feet. Range: Eastern and 
southern United States. 




At the same time they set up a commotion with their tails, perhaps in the 
hope of distracting the attention of the other snakes from the food. 

An average ribbon snake measures somewhat more than two feet in 
length. It is dark brown or black on top and yellowish-white underneath. 
A yellow stripe extending down the back and sides is the reason for the 
snake’s name. Ribbon snakes bring forth about fourteen live young. 


HOG-NOSED SNAKE 


When surprised or threatened, the harmless hog-nosed snake displays the 
most menacing and terrifying attitudes. It swells and puffs to unbelievable 
proportions, flattens its neck in the manner of a cobra and hisses in sinister 
fashion. 

Despite its comparatively small size, about one yard, the hog-nosed 
snake is much feared among the uninitiated. It is mistakenly believed to 
be poisonous, and therefore in various localities is called spreading adder, 
blow snake, and blowing viper. 

This reptile owes its name to its turned-up nose, protected with a hard 
shield. The armored nose is used for burrowing in soft soil. The hog-nosed 
snake eats fishes and frogs and will frequently root out a toad buried 
near the surface. The large, fang-like teeth in the rear of the jaw puncture 
the bodies of amphibian victims, which resist being swallowed by inhaling 
deeply and puffing up. 

The hog-nosed snake is a great bluffer. If molested, it will go into a 
highly convincing series of actions intended to convey the idea that it is 
dying. Finally it will actually roll over on its back and seem to die. The 
only flaw in this performance is that if the snake is rolled over to its normal 
position again, it will roll right back with its belly upward. 

This serpent is usually encountered in dry sandy areas near the sea¬ 
shore. Occasionally, however, it is found in hilly and mountainous regions. 

The color of the hog-nosed snake is yellow-brown crossed by brown 
or black bands. The snake lays about two dozen eggs during the latter part 
of July. 


118 





'/ 


,i ;; y .J 

#9 1 '. 

*sXk.„ -aL l»^c# v * * -; s 1 . .» ,.<* =' 


'' > . ‘St ^ i 


£aRX 


Raymond L. Ditmars, New York Zoological Society. 

KING SNAKE (Lampropeltis getulus getulus ). Length: 5 feet. Range: New Jersey 
to northern Florida and Alabama. 



CALIFORNIA KING 
SNAKE ( Lampro¬ 
peltis getulus boylii). 
Length: 5 feet. Range: 
California. 



KING SNAKE 


Not even the rattler is safe from the king snake. The king snake will eat 
other food such as eggs, but seems to prefer snakes. It is relatively im¬ 
mune to the venom of poisonous snakes and shows no hesitation in attacking 
any of them. It is, however, untrue that it likes poisonous snakes better 
than others. 

It kills mammals, usually small rodents, by constriction, squeezing 
them until death comes. With small snakes, however, it employs a differ¬ 
ent method, seizing them at any point and working upward with its jaws 
toward the head. The victim will continue to struggle until it has been 
completely swallowed, and sometimes even afterward. Reliable observers 
state that they saw a Florida king snake swallow a whip snake longer 
than itself down to the last inch of tail. Upon being startled, the king 
snake regurgitated with the suddenness of a released spring. Its victim 
lived for months after this experience and did not seem to be at all injured. 

Despite its pugnacious habits toward other snakes, the king snake 
is not hostile to man. It can be handled easily within a few moments after 
being captured. When first seized, however, it will hiss with a sneeze-like 
sound and emit an unpleasant scent from glands in the tail. A few indi¬ 
viduals, however, exhibit snappish ill-temper. 

Few species are more favorable for study and observation. They be¬ 
come very tame and are quite hardy, living for years. In captivity they eat 
mice and sparrows, smaller snakes, either dead or alive, and strips of raw 
beef. A large specimen of the king snake measures five feet. Their ten to 
twenty-four eggs hatch in five or six weeks. 


BLACK SNAKE 


The black snake, attaining a length of six feet, is believed to be the 
sworn enemy of the rattlesnake, to invite encounters with human beings, 
and to have the strength to crush an arm or leg into numbness. It is said 
to hypnotize birds and squirrels within reach of its jaws. 

These beliefs are totally unfounded. The black racer will attack and 

120 



Raymond L. Ditmars, New York Zoological Society. 


BLACK SNAKE (Coluber constrictor). Length: 6 feet. Range: Eastern United States. 


121 


/ 




eat other snakes, but only when these are smaller than itself. When it 
meets a human being, it will use its astonishing speed to leave the neigh¬ 
borhood as quickly as possible. 

The black snake does not constrict but kills its prey in the manner 
of the gopher snake by holding it to the ground and then swallowing it. 
The racer haunts stone walls or bushes at the edges of dry meadows where 
it preys on the nests of birds and wild mice. It climbs trees with agility 
in its hunt for eggs and young birds. 

When captured, the racer will often turn and strike repeatedly at any 
nearby object including the hand that holds it, but after a short while 
in captivity it loses its nervousness and has been known to climb up on 
its master’s hands to feed. If kept near certain tropical varieties of snakes, 
it will succumb to mites harbored by the other snakes. 

The slaughter of the black racer in rural regions deprives the farmer 
of a natural ally in his fight against harmful rodents. 

The racer is smooth and satiny without being shiny. Black racers are 
black above and milky blue beneath, with white chin and throat. 


WATER SNAKE 


The stout, dark brown water snake is sometimes confused with the 
venomous water moccasin. In many regions it is even called “moccasin” 
and is unreasonably feared. 

When angry or cornered, the water snake flattens its head and body 
and strikes out viciously. Though not poisonous, it can draw blood or even 
inflict a tearing bite. Yet it is extremely timid and will always go in 
peace, provided an avenue of escape is left open. Diving into the water, 
it can remain submerged for many minutes. 

Sportsmen are always quick to blame some outside agency for the 
bad fishing. The water snake, coming in for its share of the blame, is ac¬ 
cused of devouring the game fish. Herpetologists consider this unlikely, as 
the snake does not swim quickly enough to overtake the swifter fish. It is 
thought to restrict itself to frogs, tadpoles and the more slow-moving fishes. 

When not pursuing their prey, water snakes like to sun themselves 

122 


From Ditmars’ REPTILES OF THE WORLD. 


WATER SNAKE (Natrix sipedon). Length: 4 feet. Range: Eastern United States 
to Nebraska and Texas. 



WATER SNAKES 
EATING BEEF 


S. C. Dunton,New York Aquarium. 




in a bush or on a tree limb overhanging the water. From this vantage point 
they can survey the stream to see if anything edible chances by. 

Water snakes can be caught by suspending a small fish on a line. The 
snake swallows the fish, and when the line is hauled in, the snake must be 
seized before the bait is disgorged. These reptiles have a highly developed 
sense of smell. If a fish is rubbed along the floor of a cage containing water 
snakes, they become frenzied in their efforts to locate the food and may 
even bite one another in their excitement. In the wilds, they are preyed upon 
by herons and other snake-eating birds. 

In August or September the female brings forth a brood of living 
young, which may number more than forty. 


GOPHER SNAKE 


In the southern United States, the eight-foot gopher or indigo snake is 
often found near houses, spending its whole life in a restricted area. The 
sharecroppers appreciate its value as a rat-killer and do not molest it. In 
addition to rodents, the snake eats frogs, birds and other snakes. It does 
not kill by constricting, but holds its victims to the ground by superior 
weight, swallowing them when they are sufficiently weakened. 

The indigo snake has different colors in different localities. In South 
America it is black on the forward portion and yellow behind; in Central 
America it is a light olive color; in the eastern United States it is blue-black. 

This snake becomes exceedingly docile in captivity after the first diffi¬ 
cult days. It is very hardy, seems to enjoy being handled, and is clean in its 
cage habits. One specimen, caught full grown, lived for eleven years after 
its capture. 


EGG-EATING SNAKE 


The eier-vreter’s claim to distinction is not that it eats eggs; many snakes 
include eggs in their diet. Egg-eating snakes of South Africa, however, eat 
eggs exclusively when adult. It swallows them whole, saws them open within 

124 





Jyr 


Y-y'.vv ^h** ‘ - 
-;v; ■?■'*$& ;~m --•,. 


Slv/ri,;' r' 1 * ‘ -V / ' % - .** ^ 

& 


■mn:, ... • .. . v .._.._ j.;.. -.v. . 

Raymond L. Ditmars, New York Zoological Society. 

FLORIDA GOPHER OR INDIGO SNAKE (Drymarchon corais couperi ). Length: 
8 feet. Range: Southeastern United States. 



125 



its gullet by means of a special set of bony cutters extending from the 
vertebrae into the throat, and then ejects the shell. This is remarkable when 
we consider that the snake is less than two feet in length and that the eggs 
may be three to four times the diameter of its neck. The eier-vreter is per¬ 
haps the only snake in the world using this technique. As a rule it robs tree 
nests, but it has no objection to the eggs of terrestrial birds and barnyard 
fowl. 

A timid and practically toothless reptile, the egg-eating snake may 
rely for defense on mimicry. In pattern it closely resembles the venomous 
night adder. In southwest Africa and Egypt, where the night adder is not 
known, the egg-eater is said to mimic other poisonous vipers. 

The typical marking of the egg-eating snake is a series of three rows 
of dark spots on an olive or light brown background. Its sound is alleged 
to be a rasping noise produced by rubbing the rough scales of its hide to¬ 
gether. 

Fitzsimons claims that in captivity, egg-eaters become tame enough 
to feed from a man’s hands. It is said they will never eat an egg containing 
a partly developed young bird or one that is not fresh. 

As if in retribution for its depredations among unborn birds, the egg¬ 
eating snake is stalked by the fierce secretary bird, which transfers the 
serpent to its gullet in one swoop. 


GOACHWHIP SNAKE 


The long, slender coachwhip snake inhabits open country, where it can 
move along with almost the speed of a walking man. Like the gopher snake, 
it often takes refuge in the burrow of the gopher tortoise. The coachwhip 
eats small rodents, birds and eggs. Unlike most harmless snakes, it has a 
vicious temper and does not thrive in captivity. With its nervous disposition 
it requires more food than most snakes. 

This reptile lays from one to two dozen eggs. 


126 


EAST INDIAN RED SNAKE {Cyl- 
indrophis rufus ), a harmless 
two foot long species common 
in Malaysia, defends itself by 
mimicking the cobra. How¬ 
ever, the tail is erected and 
flattened like a hood — not the 
neck as would be expected. 



P. E. P. Demniyagala. 


SOUTH AMERICAN RIVER 
SNAKE (Cyclagras gigas ). 
Length: 6 feet. Range: Rivers 
of tropical South America. 



(SIZ) Ralph De Sola, Federal Writers’ Project. 


CUBAN RACER {Alsophis anguli- 
fer). Length: 4 feet. Range: 
Cuba. 



New York Zoological Society. 









SEA SNAKES 


While drawing in their nets Malayan fishermen are occasionally bitten 
and killed by sea snakes, caught among the fish. Related to the cobras and 
kraits, these marine serpents are confined in range to the Indian and western 
Pacific oceans. Only one species, the yellow-bellied sea snake, is found in 
New World Pacific waters. 

These reptiles vary from four to twelve feet in length; their body is 
heavy, their head and neck strikingly slender by comparison. The diameter 
of the body may be four to six times that of the head. The flattened tail 
serves as an oar to propel them through the water. Fishes and eels on which 
they feed are paralyzed by strong venom. Malcolm Smith who has studied 
the clan observes that though sea snakes crowd around oriental harbors, 
they are docile by nature and will not attack swimmers or small craft; it is 
only when cornered and confused, as in the meshes of a fish net, that they 
are dangerous. 

Sea snakes are thoroughly adapted to marine life and may be seen as 
far as a thousand miles from shore, though as a rule they prefer regions 
close to the land. Their bodies are often covered with green algae. As a 
rule these reptiles come to the surface for air at frequent intervals, but 
when necessary, they can remain submerged for a long while, drawing air 
from the water which they “swallow” and eject in a regular flow. 

Some species have brilliant rings and may easily be seen from passing 
boats. It is these creatures, no doubt, that formed the basis for many of the 
tall stories told by medieval mariners about sea monsters that bored holes 
in the sides of ships or strangled seamen who had fallen overboard into 
their sinewy folds. Most sea snakes are exclusively marine, though they 
survive a long time when removed from the water. One genus, however, is 
known to prowl about tropical marshes and can slide gracefully in and 
out of the water. Unlike other sea snakes these have broad abdominal plates 
adapted to locomotion on land. 


128 


YELLOW-BELLIED SEA SNAKE 
(Pelamydrus platurus). 
Length: 2 y 2 feet. Range: In¬ 
dian Ocean and tropical Pa¬ 
cific. 



RINGED SEA SNAKE (Laticaiida 
colubrina ). Length: 5 feet. 
Range: Tropical western Pa¬ 
cific. 



New York Zoological Society. 


Some sea snakes bring forth living young in tidal pools and shallow 
flats while others lay eggs. The young are able at birth to shift for them¬ 
selves. The young of John’s sea snake are fourteen inches at birth — their 
mother is twice as long. Adults give evidence of early maturity, mating at 
the age of six to eight months. 


129 









REAR-FANGED 
POISONOUS SNAKES 

BOOMSLANG 


The boomslang is a South African cannibal and may swallow a member of 
its own species almost as long as itself. A boomslang, four and one-half feet 
long, has been observed to swallow a four-footer. These cannibals also eat 
frogs, though they refuse toads. Of an intensely jealous disposition, one 
boomslang, seeing another eating a frog, will attack and devour both snake 
and frog. 

The boomslang was named for its arboreal habits (boomslang being 
the Dutch for tree snake), but when birds’ eggs are scarce it crawls about 
the ground in search of lizards and frogs. Though its venom glands are 
comparatively small, its bite is highly dangerous. Humans bitten by the 
boomslang suffer hemorrhages from the nose, mouth and bowels; black 
blotches appear all over the body, and the victims frequently die. A rooster 
is killed in approximately three minutes, a rabbit in fifteen, an ox in forty- 
five. One reptile can kill several fowl, each taking progressively longer to 
die. Venom injected in a jackal’s veins killed the creature instantly. 

The boomslang lays one to two dozen eggs in October, November and 
December, the South African spring. They are usually laid under rotting 
leaves. 


SHAAPSTEKER 


Shaapstekers (Dutch for sheepstickers) have received their name unjustly. 
The ringhals, or spitting, cobra kills a sheep and scurries away across the 
South African veldt, while the shaapstekers continue to crawl about the 
grass nearby, confident in their innocence. Ranchers seeing the dead sheep 
and the snake put two and two together and kill the reptile on sight. The 
shaapsteker makes its home near cattle and sheep ranges, because its food — 

130 



L. M. Iilauber. 

LYRE SNAKE (Trimorphodon vandenburghi). Length: 2% feet. Range: Southern 
California. This rear-fanged snake although it kills small lizards is harmless 
to man. It is representative of a number of related species found in the Ameri¬ 
can Southwest. 


131 





beetles, grubs, insects and small lizards — abounds amid the dung of those 
creatures. 

Like other rear-fanged snakes the shaapsteker must imbed its fangs 
for many seconds before the poison can take effect. Its venom is stronger 
than a cobra’s but less in quantity. It can kill a rat in two hours, a chicken 
in seven to ten. For the first two hours the fowl shows no symptoms, then it 
grows sleepy, and a gradual paralysis ensues. Humans can be poisoned 
from bites only on the bare flesh, as the curved fangs cannot penetrate 
clothing. But if the reptile does succeed in getting the proper grip, a man, 
unattended, may die in from six to twelve hours. 


MUSSURANA 


The blackish-blue mussurana, or false boa, constricts and also injects 
poison. This eight-foot snake appears to deliberately hunt the highly poison¬ 
ous Brazilian fer-de-lance, against whose venom it is immune. In fighting 
the fer-de-lance, its fangs are of little use; it kills its victim by constriction, 
and while the poisonous reptile is still writhing, swallows it whole. The 
process of swallowing takes about fifteen minutes. The mussurana also hunts 
rodents, which it corners and paralyzes with its poison. 


FLYING SNAKES 


The flying snakes, a group less than a yard in length, are largely ar¬ 
boreal, chasing lizards up and down tree limbs. When frightened or startled, 
they flatten out their elongate bodies by shifting their movable ribs, and 
glide to the ground or to a lower limb. On landing they resume their normal 
shape and crawl away. Members of this genus vary in color from green to 
olive to black. Clirysopelea ornata has rich red or yellow splotches. The 
flying snakes are found in South China, Malaysia, Burma and India. 


132 



From Ditmars> REPTILES OF THE WORLD. 

LONG-NOSED TREE SNAKE EATING A LIZARD (Oxybelis acuminatus). Length: 
4 feet. Range: Mexico to tropical South America. 



MANGROVE SNAKE 
(Boiga dendrophilus ). 
Length: 6 feet. Range: 
Malaya to Philippines. 


New York Zoological Society. 









FRONT-FANGED 
POISONOUS SNAKES 

KING COBRA 


The king cobra is the largest and probably the most dangerous of poison¬ 
ous snakes. Its fierceness and ample venom make it one of man’s most 
dreaded animal foes. In addition to killing men it frequently slays elephants 
by biting them in the tip of the trunk or just above the toenail. Inasmuch 
as a work elephant, trained for transporting teakwood, is valued at four 
thousand dollars, jungle trails are frequently closed when cobras are 
engaged in guarding their nests. 

Adult king cobras average about twelve feet in length, though a speci¬ 
men measuring eighteen feet, four inches has been recorded. These snakes, 
however, are so slender that, according to Boulenger, a fifteen-footer may 
weigh as little as sixteen pounds. Their color is yellow-brown or olive-green; 
there may be black bands around the body or a patch of reddish-orange at 
the throat. The young are so brilliantly banded that they are often mistaken 
for kraits and other species. 

When aroused, they rear to a height of four feet and remain perfectly 
still as they stare at their enemy out of their bright, bronze-colored eyes. 
They do not sway back and forth like the common cobras or distend their 
hoods as wide. 

The king cobra habitually eats non-poisonous snakes. In captivity it 
will devour a four- or five-foot snake every week, consuming some hundred 
and fifty feet of snakes in an eight-month period. Only in the mating season 
do they go out of their way to attack man. Otherwise they attack only when 
disturbed. If, however, a man accidentally collides with a cobra, the serpent 
will fight rather than glide away. 

Burmese natives catch cobras by working in teams of two. One man 
waves his hand in order to attract the snake’s attention while the other sneaks 
up behind, grabs the serpent by the tail. He lifts it and deftly deposits it 
in a basket. 


134 


(SIZ) 


Ralph De Sola, Federal Writers 3 Project. 


KING COBRA (Naia hannah). Length: 12 feet. Range: 
Southern Asia. 


135 



In captivity king cobras exhibit an intelligence unusual in snakes. 
They learn not to attack people through the glass of the cage. They recognize 
their keepers and notice which way a door opens; when they grow hungry, 
they linger near their feeding door and watch for their keeper. 

King cobras when caught can stand a six-weeks journey without food 
or other care. The only ill effect is a skin cap left over their eyes after shed¬ 
ding. To remove this cap without being bitten takes considerable ingenuity 
and dexterity. 


INDIAN COBRA 


Cobras are accorded a respect amounting to reverence in the superstition 
and folklore of India. It is believed by some orientals that if a man is 
wronged during his lifetime he will be reincarnated as a cobra and will 
avenge himself upon the wrongdoer. When an animal is attacked by a cobra, 
the snake is really settling old scores with a human being in animal form 
who once harmed him. Sometimes the snake dies with his vendetta uncom¬ 
pleted and is reborn as human, the better to find his enemy. On the other 
hand, the cobra is supposed to be loyal to the memory of a dead human 
who has once befriended him. In Madras the killing of a cobra is regarded 
as a sin. Its body is cremated and milk poured over the ashes. For three 
days, the “murderer” is considered polluted. 

The six-foot Indian or common cobra ranges throughout southern Asia 
and is found up to an altitude of three thousand feet in the Himalayas. Its 
usual coloring is yellowish to dark brown with a black-and-white, spectacled¬ 
shaped marking on the hood. Unlike the king cobra, it does not feed on 
snakes, but on frogs and rodents. In killing these it shows great agility, 
darting at them with unerring precision. Once it secures a hold, it bites 
tenaciously, the muscles of its jaws bulging as it exudes its venom. When 
angry, it raises its body, distends its hood and sways rhythmically from side 
to side. As it strikes, it emits a sharp, sneeze-like hiss. 

Indian cobras often live in empty termites’ nests, piles of wood or 
stone. Sometimes they enter houses in search of rats. They commonly travel 
in pairs, a male and a female together, hunting in the late afternoon and 
evening to avoid the sun’s greatest heat. 

136 


ASIATIC COBRA’S SKELETON 



From Hitmans’ REPTILES OF THE WORLD, 


137 



Cobras like milk but do not milk cows. 

In fighting mongooses, the cobra does not use the darting technique it 
employs against rodents. Instead it strikes from its reared position until 
it becomes exhausted. Then the mongoose feints with a bite to the snake’s 
tail. When the cobra lashes out in that direction, the mongoose leaps to its 
throat, securing a death grip. The mongoose is not immune to the cobra’s 
venom, but depends on its agility and thick fur to escape harm. Often, 
however, the mongoose will undramatically stand on the snake and, holding 
it down with its feet, bite through its back and neck. 

The cobra lays about twelve eggs, the size of a pigeon’s. Peafowl and 
jungle-cocks prey on the young cobras. 

In India many deaths result each year from the bite of cobras, though 
it is not known what percentage of the 20,000 annual fatalities from snake¬ 
bite can be attributed to this snake. The reasons for the high mortality are 
insufficient leg covering among the peasantry and ignorance as to the correct 
treatment of snake bites. A good serum for cobra bite is produced by the 
Haffkine Institute in Bombay, but generally the natives prefer to use 
“snake stones,” a light, porous application that sucks blood from the wounds 
and falls off when saturated. This treatment removes very little of the venom. 

The fangs of the cobra are not poison-coated, nor does it inject venom 
in the manner of the rattlesnake. When the cobra secures a bite, it twists its 
head to the right and then to the left, releasing muscles above each fang 
and permitting the poison to flow into the wounds. 


SPITTING COBRAS 


The spitting cobra, or black-necked cobra, is an African species, ranging 
from Upper Egypt through West Africa to the Transvaal. Seven feet in 
length and endowed with a large quantity of venom, it is one of Africa’s 
most dangerous snakes. When angered, it rises and with deadly marksman¬ 
ship ejects a spray of poison at its enemy’s eyes. It can spit as far as twelve 
feet, and as high as a man’s eye. If the spray is not washed off, blindness 
may ensue. The serpent can eject half a dozen jets of poison in quick 
cession, and in twenty-four hours the store of venom is replenished. 

138 


sue- 



ASIATIC COBRA (Spectacled Va¬ 
riety) (Naja naja ) (Indian 
Form). Also called Indian 
Cobra. Length: 6 feet. Range: 
Southern India and Ceylon. 



(SIZ) c. V. M. Sutcliffe. 


ASIATIC COBRA 
(Monocellate Vari¬ 
ety) (Naja naja) 
(Eastern Form). 
Range : Extreme 
southeastern Asia. 


There are various color types of spitting cobra. One is blue-black with 
scarlet patches on the hood. Another is olive with yellow spots, while still 
another is salmon pink. In captivity the snakes become docile and soon 
learn not to spit at the glass cage fronts. They can survive many years of 
captivity. 

The ringhals cobra, like most snakes with Dutch names, is a South 
African variety. It is the smallest of cobras, reaching a length of only four 
feet. Like the black-necked cobra, it uses the water-pistol technique in attack¬ 
ing, but owing to its smaller size cannot spit as far. The name was given it by 
the Boers, because its neck is ringed by one or two white collars. It differs 
from most cobras by bringing forth living young, from twenty to sixty in 
a litter. 


139 



MAMBAS 


Despite their large friendly eyes and generally gentle appearance, the 
mambas have the reputation of being the most dangerous of African snakes. 
Their average length is about seven feet, but the black mamba sometimes 
can be as much as twelve feet long. They are exceedingly light in build, 
being only about half as thick as a king cobra of the same length. 

Mambas lurk in small trees and bushes on the lookout for birds. They 
also stalk rodents on the ground, moving with remarkable speed and agility. 
As a rule they slither away at the sight of man, but in the breeding season 
they may attack anyone approaching too closely to their haunts. 

Mambas become quite docile in captivity, but never live much more 
than a year in confinement. 


KRAITS 


Kraits are exceedingly abundant in southeast Asia and are almost as poison¬ 
ous as cobras. A goodly percentage of the snake-bite mortality in these 
regions can be traced to these snakes. They are four to five feet long, black 
or dark brown in color, with tan or yellow bands across the back. A ridge 
extends down the back, topped by a row of large scales. The head is small. 
The surface is smooth and glistening. 

The kraits are nocturnal in habits, hunting for smaller snakes, frogs, 
lizards and rodents. They are a great menace to human beings as they often 
enter houses in search of rodents. They like to cover themselves with warm 
dust in roadways. The krait’s attack is a sideswish which may be accom¬ 
plished without coiling. 

They are sluggish in captivity and do not live long. 


140 



(SIZ) Ralph De Sola, Federal Writers’ Project. 

BANDED KRAIT (Bungarus fasciatus). Length: 4 feet. Range: India and Malaysia. 


CORAL SNAKES 


Coral snakes are slender, brightly colored snakes, reaching a length of four 
feet. Their bite can be fatal to man, but they cause few deaths since their 
brilliant color warns of their presence, their eyesight is poor, and they are 
generally timid. The greater part of their careers is spent underground 
where they feed on coecilians, or beneath the bark of trees, searching for 
lizards, small snakes and insects. There are various non-poisonous snakes 
that resemble coral snakes. It is thought by some that nature may have 
given them this appearance as a means of protection. 

In Central America the coral snakes are called gargantillas , meaning 
necklace and referring to their red, yellow and black rings. North American 
varieties are the harlequin snake and the Sonoran coral snake, which differ 
from the others chiefly as to color scheme. They are rarely seen above ground 

141 


except during the spring plowing. Asiatic coral snakes are eaten by cobras 
but seem to be immune from attack by the mongoose. 


AUSTRALIAN BLACK SNAKE 


The five-foot Australian black snake is a slender species, with neck ribs 
that form a hood about half as broad as that of the cobra. Its smooth scales 
are blue-black in back, while the underside is a bright red. Black snakes 
live in marshes, where they hunt frogs, rodents, birds and lizards. They are 
excellent swimmers. They bring forth living young, two dozen or so to the 
litter. 

Black snakes have survived for as long as seventeen years in captivity. 
However, they cannot tolerate the mites they sometimes catch from other 
snakes. Their poison is not very dangerous to man. Specimens caught by the 
head try to strike their captors with their tail, and often escape in the panic 
thus created. 


TIGER SNAKE 


The tiger snake of Australia and Tasmania is the most deadly snake of 
that region. Its name, however, arises not from its fierceness, but from its 
banded color design. Its venom is considered by some toxicologists to be 
the most virulent of all snake venoms but the tiger snake has a smaller 
supply than larger snakes. 

Tiger snakes are irritable and strike swiftly. Since some fifty of them 
are born in a litter, they are unpleasantly common. 


142 



New York Zoological Society. 


CORAL OR HARLEQUIN SNAKE (Micrurus fulvius ). 
Length: 3 feet. Range: Southern and midwestern 
United States. 


143 








MOVABLE-FANGED 
POISONOUS SNAKES 

COPPERHEADS 


Copperheads are the most common poisonous snakes to be found near the 
great thickly settled regions of the eastern United States, and consequently 
most cases of snake-bite in these regions can be attributed to them. 

Fortunately the bite of these snakes, though dangerous, is fatal to man 
in less than one per cent of cases; they cannot, as a general rule, kill a 
healthy adult, but too much reliance should not be placed in this fact. 

A record specimen, four and one-half feet long, was found near White 
Plains, New York, only a few miles from New York City. The usual adult 
length is three feet. 

The copperhead’s body is rather thick for its length; the color may 
be tan, pinkish, or reddish-brown. The sides are adorned with blotches of 
a darker brown, which seem to unite and form a continuous saddle-like 
pattern. 

A quiet snake, the copperhead will show fight only when stepped on 
or otherwise disturbed. Generally it will lie perfectly still in the presence 
of an intruder, relying on its protective coloring, which blends with the 
dead leaves. When afraid, it vibrates its tail in such a way as to produce 
a buzzing among the leaves. It will fight if necessary, but it prefers to take 
refuge in a crevice among the rocks. Wooded hills and marshes are its usual 
habitat, and here it spends its time searching for rodents, frogs and birds. 
In winter it goes into a crevice to hibernate. 

Soon after emerging from their winter torpor, the snakes mate. Then 
the females congregate in protected hiding places until August or September 
when the young are born. The period of gestation is about twenty weeks. 
In birth the young are expelled at almost hourly intervals. For about forty- 
five minutes the newborn snakelet remains quietly within its embryonic 
membrane, which it then pierces. The little snakes possess an egg-tooth on 
the forehead, but make no use of it for this purpose. One hour after birth 

144 




(SIZ) Ralph De Sola, Federal Writers* Project. 

COPPERHEAD SNAKE (Agkistrodon mokasen). Length: 2% feet. Range: Eastern 
United States. 


the young copperhead possesses enough venom to kill a mouse if it is so 
inclined. The young have brilliant yellow tails which fade to brown before 
the third year, except in the Texas variety, which retains a greenish-yellow 
tail throughout life. 

When food is brought to a cage full of young copperheads, they wriggle 
their tails. It is thought that this is a means of attracting their prey; the 
remainder of the body is camouflaged, and the prey, attracted by the 
mysterious yellow object, moves to within striking distance. Within ten days 
after birth the young snakes shed their skin for the first time. 

The copperhead’s chief enemies, aside from man, are other snakes, 
especially king snakes. 


WATER MOCCASIN 

The water moccasin or cottonmouth ranging over the wet lowlands of the 
southern United States, is irritable and pugnacious. It reaches a maximum 
length of six feet, and its usual length is four feet. The young will snap 
at a moving object even before they have completely escaped from the 
embryonic membranes and at birth can inject a fairly strong dose of poison. 
A captive moccasin which escaped into the cage of a large South American 
anaconda, bit the constrictor several times and killed it. One specimen 
survived captivity for twenty-one years. 

When surprised or angry, the moccasin opens its mouth wide, disclosing 
a white, cottonlike fleshy interior. This is why many persons call it cotton- 
mouth. 

This snake is often found on low branches overhanging a stream. When 
frightened, it slides into the water, swims under the surface for a distance, 
and later emerges in a hidden spot among the reeds. In the water it hunts 
for fishes and frogs, while on land it partakes of birds and small mammals. 

The water moccasin is an olive or brownish color with indistinct black¬ 
ish bands on the sides. A dark band runs from each eye to the corner of 
the mouth. The mating of moccasins first occurs during the third year of 
their lives. 

In captivity these snakes grow gentle and sluggish and often survive 
for many years. 


146 


From Ditmars’ REPTILE BOOK. 


COTTONMOUTH MOCCASIN (Agkistrodon piscivorus). 
Southeastern United States. 



Ralph De Sola, Federal Writers’ Project. 


Length: 5 feet. Range: 


YOUNG COTTON- 
MOUTH MOCCA¬ 
SINS 



FER-DE-LANCE 


Because of its deadliness and abundance, the fer-de-lance, also called barba 
amarilla, is known as the terror of the Central American lowlands. It also 
frequents tropical South America and the West Indian islands of Martinique 
and St. Lucia. The effects of this snake’s poison are rapid and terrible. It 
destroys the red blood cells and breaks down the walls of the blood vessels. 
Visible early symptoms are reddening of the eyes and vomiting of blood. 
Hemorrhages ensue in the stomach, throat, mouth and kidneys. The tissue 
around the wound is completely destroyed by the poison. So strong is the 
venom that a Honduran woman whose fingers were lacerated from grating 
cocoanut died from tending the wound of her bitten husband. One reason 
for the uncommon abundance of the fer-de-lance is that the young are 
brought forth in litters of sixty or more. 

This viper attains a length of eight feet. Its color is gray, olive or 
reddish with dark cross bands. Its brightly colored tail is said to attract 
its prey and its lance-shaped head is the reason for its French name of fer-de- 
lance. Tomigoff is British West Indian Negro dialect for a snake of any sort, 
and Jamaican workers on the Panama Canal applied the term to the fer-de- 
lance, which was abundant in that region. The name of barba amarilla , or 
yellow beard, arises from its yellow chin. Mongooses introduced into Marti¬ 
nique and St. Lucia to combat it have had some success, chiefly in killing the 
young. A full-grown snake is just as likely to kill the mongoose. The fer-de- 
lance is common in regions inhabited by man, because it commonly feeds 
on rodents. A legend long current in the West Indian islands has it that they 
were purposely introduced by the French planters to make it difficult for 
slaves to escape. 


RUSSELL’S VIPER 


Though sluggish and slow-moving, the five-foot Russell’s viper, or tic 
polonga , rivals the cobra as the greatest killer among oriental snakes. The 
poison of this viper tends to coagulate the blood and destroy the red blood 
cells. It can kill a chicken in the record time of thirty-eight seconds and a 

148 



Raymond L. Ditmars, New York Zoological Society. 

RUSSELL’S VIPER (Vipera russellii ). Length: 4 feet. Range: Southeastern Asia. 


4 


149 




dog in twenty-six minutes. A man if not treated will succumb to exhaustion 
from hemorrhages, tetanus or gastric disturbances, in from one to fourteen 
days. 

The tic polonga is a rich tan color. Three rows of black rings bordered 
with white or yellow run the entire length of its body. Though it usually in¬ 
habits the plains, it is also found in the mountains of India up to seven 
thousand feet. It avoids the thick jungle. Nocturnal in habits, it lives largely 
on rats, and is consequently numerous in the neighborhood of human settle¬ 
ments. When disturbed, the tic polonga emits a rapidly intermittent hiss, 
producing as loud a tone in the intake as in expiration. The sound is much 
like that produced by a leaking football. In striking, the viper slides for¬ 
ward almost imperceptibly for a foot or more and then springs. 

Because of their large litters which are born six months after mating, 
these snakes are exceedingly abundant in some regions. In the last century 
a British judge had to abandon his house in Ceylon because it was infested 
with tic polongas. The young are more belligerent than their parents and, 
unlike their elders, are said to be cannibalistic. 

In India, the venom of this creature is prescribed in the form of pills 
by native doctors as a treatment for many kinds of diseases. South African 
scientists have done much experimenting with viper venom as a treatment 
for epilepsy. 


PUFF ADDER 


One of the most common African snakes, the puff adder, often lies motion¬ 
less and well camouflaged by its orange-brown color athwart the jungle 
trails. Unlike other snakes, it makes no attempt to get out of the way when 
people approach, but if stepped on, it will respond viciously. Consequently 
many barefoot natives are bitten. Some have been known to die, but as a 
rule the puff adder’s bite is not fatal to man. The hiss of this viper is a 
vigorous puff; hence the name. 

Puff adders are also found in large numbers about human habitations. 
Englishmen and natives have been terrified frequently at finding puff adders 
in their beds. In addition to rats, the serpents eat birds, toads, chickens, 
lizards. About a day after feeding, the body color of the snake has been 

150 



(SIZ) 


Ralph De Sola, Federal Writers' Project. 


PUFF ADDER (Bitis arietens). Length: 4 feet. Range: Africa and Arabia. 


151 




observed to deepen to a reddish brown. The bite of one puff adder will 
kill another. Young puff adders fed to a carp by scientists bit the fish 
internally and killed it. 


GABOON VIPER 


Another African viper is the awe-inspiring Gaboon, which is the heaviest, 
though not the longest, of African poisonous snakes. It is dark brown, marked 
with yellowish diamonds running lengthwise. Its head is impressively broad, 
and its fangs may be one and one-quarter inches long. Yet despite its fero¬ 
cious aspect, it is placid and slow to attack. Its venom, however, is extremely 
potent. 

The vipers also have European representatives, and these have occupied 
an important place both in folklore and primitive medicine. Among them 
are the asp said to have bitten Cleopatra; the nose-horned viper, known in 
Austria as the sandnatter; Orsini’s viper, found in the Italian Abruzzi; and 
the common viper, found throughout Europe and England. 

In eighteenth-century England viper flesh was the chief ingredient in a 
popular remedy for scurvy, known as viper bread. The recipe was: one 
ounce powder of viper’s flesh, three ounces of the mealy part of the 
sassafras root finely powdered, one pound fine wheat flour, yolk of one 
egg, a little yeast and sufficient milk to knead. Form into cakes and bake. 
“Tincture of vipers” was used in a prescription to induce sweating. 


BUSHMASTER 


Largest of all the vipers is the bushmaster, known in Central America as 
cascabela muda , or silent rattler. Examples twelve feet long have been 
found, and nine feet is a common length. It is the only American viper 
that lays eggs. Like the rattler, it warns of its presence by vibrating its tail, 
but the sound produced is no more than a low buzz. 

A slender snake, the bushmaster is pale brown or pinkish, with large 

152 



Raymond L. Ditmars, New'York Zoological Society. 

BUSHMASTER (Lachesis muta). Length: 10 feet. Range: Tropical America. 



153 


black and brown blotches. Though nowhere very abundant, it is aggressive 
and dangerous. It will not shy away from an intruder, but tends to attack, 
striking from an S-shaped, sidewise loop. Its fangs are long, and it secretes 
a large amount of venom. 


RATTLESNAKES 


An encounter with a rattlesnake is usually an unexpected event. It may 
occur — and often does — during a hike, picnic, or camping expedition in 
many parts of the United States and as far south as Argentina. 

The snake may be gliding across a forest pathway, or sunning itself on 
a ledge. It senses the approach of footsteps. The rattler cannot hear, but 
it feels the vibrations of the earth against its belly and becomes tense. It sees 
the intruder before being seen itself. 

Frightened or annoyed, it assumes its characteristic S-shaped striking 
coil and usually gives warning by vibrating the “rattle” at the end of its tail. 
The intruder draws up suddenly. If he is close enough, the rattlesnake uses 
his moment of indecision to lunge forward and sink its hypodermic-like 
fangs into an unprotected leg. Then, if content with its work, the creature 
slithers away. The bite of rattlesnakes, as recorded in the United States, 
has only been fatal in fifteen per cent of all cases not properly treated. And 
the smaller rattlers do not secrete enough venom to kill a man. 

Snake charmers have found through painful experience that pulling 
fangs is no insurance against snake-bite, as reserve teeth grow in very 
quickly. Removal of the poison glands has also proved impractical in the 
past because of the high mortality among snakes operated upon and the 
danger to the operator. Recently, however, a technique has been developed 
by Tait and extended by Babcock for anesthetizing rattlers and successfully 
removing the poison glands. Curiously enough, Tait found that fangs con¬ 
tinued to grow after the sacs had been removed. 

Pope, who has made some interesting researches on the relative toxicity 
of snakes, writes that if a fifteen-pound diamond-back, noted for the great 
amount of venom carried at one time, were loaded with the poison of the 
Australian tiger snake, one load could kill four hundred men. 

154 



L. M. Klauber. 

EASTERN DIAMOND-BACK RATTLESNAKE (Crotalus adamanteus). Length: 8 
feet. Range: Southeastern United States. 


155 



According to Klauber there are about forty species and sub-species of 
rattlesnakes. The largest of these, the eastern diamond-back rattler, grows to 
seven and one-half feet in length; Willard’s pigmy, a half-pint pest local to 
Arizona and New Mexico, achieves all of fifteen inches. Of the whole fear¬ 
some tribe, the western diamond-back rattlesnake has been awarded the 
palm as killer-in-chief. 

No type of terrain has proved inhospitable to rattlers. While the greater 
number live in arid or semi-arid bushland, rattlers climb mountains as 
high as 14,500 feet, and pick their way through forests and swamps, and 
individuals have been found swimming in rivers and lakes — even in the 
ocean. Often a single species will adapt itself to different habitats. 

With the coming of the first frost rattlesnakes go into hibernation. In 
cold regions they seek out the shelter of caves or “snake dens,” deep fis¬ 
sures in the rocks frequently extending thirty feet beneath the surface. There, 
intertwined in large numbers, they spend the cold months in a state of torpor. 
Some species expropriate the holes dug by other animals. In the warmer 
climes they hibernate separately, frequently emerging during hot spells in 
quest of food and sunlight. 

During the spring and autumn, rattlers forage for their food by day, 
but during the hot season appear only after sunset. The direct heat of the 
southern sun will kill a rattlesnake in less than a quarter of an hour. The 
presence of rattlesnakes in any neighborhood is conditioned by the avail¬ 
ability of its fare — rodents and birds. They render a service to farmers 
by eating the rats and field mice which multiply in the vicinity of harvest 
operations. 

These snakes also serve economic functions by yielding their skins 
for the manufacture of fancy leather goods and their flesh is canned in 
Florida for the delectation of certain epicures. A rattlesnake oil sold in 
the Orient and at American sideshows is alleged to relieve the twinges of 
rheumatism, cure the gout and grow hair. 

In addition, rattlers create an economic “demand” which they “supply” 
themselves. Their venom is extracted and manufactured into antivenin used 
in the treatment of rattlesnake bite. Experimentation is proceeding in the 
use of venom to cure epilepsy and other disorders. 

The poisoning apparatus is a frightfully efficient device. Venom glands 
in the sides of the serpent’s head connect through ducts with long, hollow 

156 



L. M. Klauber. 

HORNED RATTLESNAKE OR SIDEWINDER (Crotalus cerastes). Length: 2y z 
feet. Range: Southwestern United States. 


157 


fangs, folded, when not in use, against the roof of the mouth. In striking, 
the snake rears upward for about six to twelve inches, so that the force of 
the blow is downward. The mouth is kept closed until just before the fangs 
make contact, then they spring erect and inject the poison. 

Rattlers have two types of toxins in their venom. The one toxin breaks 
down the walls of small blood vessels, dissolves cells, and paralyzes nerve 
centers, making breathing difficult and causing congestion, while the other 
prevents the clotting of blood sometimes causing a hemorrhage. Calmette, 
Crimmins, Ditmars, do Amaral and a host of other investigators have studied 
the toxin of the rattlesnake. 

The snake’s “word to the wise,” its rattle, begins as a single button 
appearing after the first skin has been shed. With each shedding an addi¬ 
tional segment appears. Most specimens have rattles composed of from five 
to fifteen segments, the larger number being unusual as they frequently 
break off. The number of rattles or segments is therefore not a reliable 
way to tell the age of the snake. 

Record skins of rattlers exhibited in circuses and sideshows are fre¬ 
quently something less than meets the eye. To be sure, record specimens of 
the large eastern diamond-back rattlesnake really do reach a length of nine 
feet. But in their search for the “colossal” and the “stupendous,” exhibitors 
sometimes stretch the hides to twice their size and add an extra set of 
rattles. 

When first caught, this snake can be kept alive only through forced 
feeding with eggs and viosterol. Nervous and intolerant of handling, it flies 
into defensive tantrums. Later it will eat live rodents but if annoyed during 
the kill it will regurgitate them. 

In August and September the eastern diamond-back gives birth to a 
litter of from eight to twelve young. In this connection Ditmars mentions 
a phenomenon quite unusual with snakes of any type. A mother eastern 
diamond-back, kept at the reptile house of the New York Zoological Park, 
tried to attack its keeper whenever he approached the cage in which she 
lay with her brood. Snakes as a rule forget completely about their young 
from the moment of birth. 

Rattlers play an important part in the religious life of the Hopi Indians. 
During the ceremonial snake dance, live rattlers are handled by young 
boys and tribal priests without apparent harm. Large numbers of the snakes 

158 



L. M. Klauber. 


ALBINO AND NORMAL PRAIRIE RATTLESNAKES COMPARED 


are caught before the great festival in summer, and stored in earthenware 
jars. Attendants wash and dry them, passing them easily through their 
hands in the process. During the dance, the priests even put the snakes in 
their mouths. The fangs are not withdrawn, yet for some unknown reason, 
the dangerous creatures seem to fall in with the spirit of the festival and 
inflict no injuries on their handlers. 

The rattlesnake was so familiar in early American settlements that it 
was used as a revolutionary emblem on a colonial flag with the warning: 
“Don’t tread on me.” 


159 





TURTLES 

(Tortoises, Terrapins and Turtles) 

The term “turtle,” has been broadly applied to the four-limbed animal 
dressed by nature in an armor sometimes as invulnerable as the metal suit 
of warrior knights. To most people a turtle is a turtle whether it swims in 
the sea, lurches cross-country like a miniature army tank, or wallows in 
the mud. It may be a mild, inoffensive vegetarian, or it may hunt and fish 
for its food and snap your finger off if you give it half a chance — and still 
he a “turtle.” 

Scientists, however, speak of the whole family as chelonians, and some 
like Hornaday and Surface further divide them into turtles, tortoises and 
terrapins. Tortoises have dome-shaped top shells and clublike legs and 
spend all their time on land. Turtles dwell in the water and have flippers 
instead of legs. And the terrapins, whose feet are webbed between the toes, 
have the amphibian characteristic of dividing their time between land 
and water. 

Nevertheless, in conformity with custom, we shall call all these crea¬ 
tures “turtles” except in those few cases where usage dictates otherwise. 
Like most other reptiles, turtles are equally distributed over most of the 
temperate and tropical continental regions. Sea turtles inhabit the warmest 
waters of most of the seas and oceans, as they have done throughout much 
of geological history. 

Their shells, the upper called the carapace and the lower called the 
plastron, fit around them like a barrel with the ends knocked out for the 
head, tail and legs. These shell parts are formed by flat, bony ribs, fused 
together and completely covered with a horny exterior. The upper and lower 
shells are connected at the sides by means of bony “bridges.” The protrud¬ 
ing head, neck and limbs are protected by scales or just skin. 

Most backboned animals draw breath by means of movable ribs and 
muscular diaphragms; their chest cavity acts as a bellows to pump air in and 
out. The turtle, however, has ribs fused to the underside of the carapace. 
It is able to force some air into and out of the lungs by raising and lowering 

161 



SURVIVAL OF TURTLES 

































































the floor of its mouth as it distends and compresses its neck. Other methods 
of respiration are anal and pharangeal. 

Turtles are toothless, but their horny beaks with sharp cutting edges 
can inflict a nasty wound. It is just as well that the great majority are peace¬ 
ful by nature. Land turtles generally eat vegetable foods, whereas many 
aquatic forms eat animal and vegetable foods with equal relish. 

Female land turtles can do no more than hiss but the unmusical utter¬ 
ances of the males run the gamut from the pipings of the smaller species 
to the hoarse bellowings of the giant tortoises. 

Adult turtles vary greatly in size. The fresh-water mud turtle seldom 
reaches a size much larger than three inches in length. The trunk-back 
marine turtle is frequently over six feet long. 

The age achieved by some turtles is truly remarkable and Major 
Flower, who is an authority on the longevity of animals, writes: “Tortoises 
live to ages exceeding those of all other vertebrate animals.” 

Turtles reproduce by means of eggs laid in sand or loose earth. Even 
the sea turtles make for shore to lay their eggs. The eggs are round or 
elliptical and may be covered with a hard shell, stiffened by its content 
of calcium, or by a softer parchment-like covering. 

Alfred Sherwood Romer in Man and the Vertebrates pays a merited 
tribute to the turtle family. 

“The turtles are the most bizarre of reptilian groups. Because they are 
still living, turtles are commonplace objects to us; were they extinct their 
shells, the most remarkable armor ever assumed by a land animal, would 
be a cause for wonder. 

“The turtles, once within the shelter of their armor, became the con¬ 
servatives of the reptilian world. The oldest forms were contemporaries of 
the earliest dinosaurs. The ruling reptiles grew to dominate the reptilian 
scene but the turtles persisted unchanged. The dinosaurs passed away and 
the mammals took their place, but the turtles went calmly on their placid 
way. Now man dominates the scene, but the turtles are still with us. And 
if, in the far distant future, man in turn disappears from the earth, very 
likely there will still be found the turtle plodding stolidly on down the 
corridor of time.” 

Popularly classified, the following groups of turtles will be represented 
in this chapter: 


163 


Snapping Turtles dwell in fresh-water streams, lakes and ponds. There 
are four species of these fresh-water turtles in North and Central America 
and one species found only in New Guinea. Their relatively large heads, 
long, alligator-like tails, rough shells, and above all their use of powerful, 
notched jaws, have given all of these turtles a well-deserved reputation for 
viciousness. 

The Musk and Mud Turtles are also found in North, Central and 
northern South America, except for the giant-headed turtle, native to bodies 
of fresh water in Siam, Burma and China. The American species number 
more than fifteen. Disturbed in their muddy haunts, these reptiles give off 
a musky stench by secreting substances from small skin glands. Many 
species are able to withdraw head and limbs into the shell, the under part 
of which is provided with front- and rear-hinged lobes. 

The twenty-four generic types of Water Turtles are distributed all over 
the earth with the exception of the Australian region. Their physical char¬ 
acteristics as a group encompass every degree of evolutionary adaptation 
from aquatic to terrestrial life. One of these, the Balagur turtle has a shell 
almost two feet long. Found in Bengal, Burma and Malaya, it is enabled 
by its webbed toes to lead a completely aquatic existence. The better-known 
painted turtles, sliders, diamond-back terrapins, as well as the pond and 
box turtles, will be treated more extensively later in the chapter. 

Land Tortoises bring to mind the gigantic long-lived inhabitants of 
the Galapagos Islands and a few remote archipelagos of the Indian Ocean. 
Closely related are more than seventy-five smaller species found throughout 
the tropical world. Perhaps the most curious land tortoise is the East African 
soft-shelled tortoise whose flexible shell permits it to hide in the crevices 
of its rocky homeland. 

Sea Turtles range throughout the principal seas and oceans. The giant 
trunk-back, about which very little was known until recently, attains a weight 
of more than fifteen hundred pounds and is the largest of all living reptiles. 
Until a few years ago no one had ever observed this turtle depositing its 
eggs, although adult specimens had been captured from time to time in 
various parts of the ocean. In general the sea turtles have the same habits. 

Snake-necked Turtles are able to withdraw their long necks and heads 
into the shell in time of danger. This group is known from examples found 
in South America, Australia and New Guinea. All its members are quite 

164 


similar except for the fringe-headed South American matamata and a New 
Guinea species provided with paddle-shaped limbs like a sea turtle. Snake- 
necks from tropical Africa, South America and Madagascar can only par¬ 
tially retract their necks. These also inhabit fresh water. 

Soft-shelled Turtles comprise a single family with twenty-five or more 
species scattered throughout Africa, Asia and North America. Their leathery 
skins cover pancake-shaped bodies. 


165 


SNAPPING TURTLES 

SNAPPING TURTLE 


A man once cut off the head of a snapping turtle. Although it was several 
hundred feet from its pond, the turtle, headless, clambered back into the 
water before dying. This fearsome creature, which sometimes attains a 
length of two feet and a weight of sixty pounds, is drawn to an aquatic life 
from the day of its birth. 

The snapper usually rests on the muddy bottom of ponds, lakes and 
streams. Its brown top shell, imbedded in the mud, looks like a rock. This 
impression is heightened by the slimy, green algae which grows on the 
shell. The snapper’s coloration is an excellent disguise, permitting it to 
gobble up unsuspecting fishes which think they are swimming over just 
another stone — and are captured before realizing their mistake. 

When the snapper sights the leg of a waterfowl on the surface of the 
water, its ferocity is brought into play. Extending its long neck, it shoots its 
head upward and, in the twinkling of an eye, has seized its prey’s limb in 
a cruel beak strong enough to bite off a man’s finger. Down comes the help¬ 
less swan or small goose, whose life is speedily ended by a few more sharp 
hungry snaps. When dead, the victim is torn to pieces and devoured. 

The snapper is not a bit fussy about its food. Sometimes it adds a 
vegetable side dish — marsh grass — to its meat dinner. When food is scarce 
in the water, it plods ashore to capture a chicken or small reptile in its sharp- 
beaked jaws. It drags its captive, sometimes still living, back into the water 
where it leisurely sups in its aquatic dining room. It is believed that the 
snapping turtle can swallow only under water; at any rate, it seems to 
prefer to do so. Yet, despite its voracious character, the snapper can live 
for months without food. 

It lays its round eggs, about two dozen at a time, during the late spring 
or early summer —the date depending on the locality. It goes ashore for 
this task, sometimes traveling for a mile to establish a nest. 

When it reaches what it deems a satisfactory spot, it industriously 
scoops out a hole with its hind legs. There it deposits the thin, but hard- 

166 



New York Zoological Society. 

SNAPPING TURTLE (Chelydra serpentina). Length: iy 2 feet. Range: Southern 
Canada to Ecuador. 


shelled eggs and permits the dirt to slide back into the hole as a protective 
covering. When this task is completed, the turtle trudges back to its watery 
home. 

The young turtles, when hatched, are only about one inch in diameter. 
But from the moment that they break from the shell these infant turtles 
are on their own. They must support themselves because, like most cold¬ 
blooded creatures, they receive neither food nor training from their mother. 
Instinctively the young snapper sets out for the nearest body of water as soon 
as it emerges from the egg. Experiments have shown that even if obstacles 
are placed in its way, or it is turned in the opposite direction, it will head 
stubbornly for the water in which it thrives. 

As the snapper grows past maturity, its easygoing life begins to show. 
It becomes so overburdened with the fat of good living that it can move its 
broad, webbed feet only with difficulty, at a lumbering crawl. 

In this period of its life, the snapping turtle is greatly relished by 

167 


gouimets, notably the Chinese-Americans, for its tasy meat. In its younger 
days it is said to give off an offensive, musky odor. In rural districts it was 
once common practice for farmers to catch snappers and place them in the 
swill barrel. There, feeding on the food of hogs, they grew deliciously fat 
and lost their muskiness. When the farmer considered the time ripe, the 
bloated snapper was killed and eaten. 

This turtle is also widely used for Philadelphia snapper soup. A few 
hostelries in that city still observe the early American custom of raising a 
flag, depicting a turtle on a white background, when that tasty dish is being 
served. In some sections even the eggs are considered good eating, and 
the oil derived from the turtles is thought to be good for bruises. Sometimes 
a fisherman to his disgust — pulls up his hook which seemed to have been 
seized by a prize fish and finds a snapper hanging on. Men kill it because 
of its depredations among fish and fowl, and some seek to “bring it back 
alive.” It thrives in captivity though retaining its sullen disposition. 

Extreme caution must be exercised by those handling these creatures. 
A snapper must be grasped by its horny tail and held at arm’s length until 
sacked or penned; otherwise, when it makes a thrust with its long, snake¬ 
like neck, it may clamp its dangerous beak on the body or clothing of its 
captor, according to Conant. 

Raccoons and skunks do not even give snapping turtles a chance to 
live, for they prey upon the eggs. Its nemesis in a fair, animal fight is the 
otter, which usually emerges victorious from such brawls. Both the otter, 
which is a mammal, and the snapper seize the same animals for food. The 
viciousness of the otter is demonstrated by its work in the water, where it 
kills ten times as many fishes as it can eat. When the two come to blows in 
some pond or stream, the slow-moving turtle gives rapid vent to its full fury. 
The waters are churned as mammal and reptile bite and snap in death 
combat. Ultimately the turtle succumbs to its superior and the sharp teeth 
of the otter sink conclusively into the vanquished snapper’s neck, severing 
its head from its clawing body. 

A number of American Indian tribes had a strange use for the snapping 
turtle. They would disembowel the creature, cut off its legs and tail, and 
make a handle by inserting a piece of wood through the head and flabby 
neck. Then some stones were placed within the hollow shells which were 
closed by sewing up the skin at both ends. The result was a rattle which 

168 


SNAPPING TURTLES HATCHING 



American Museum of Natural History. 


when swung by the handle, made the stones clatter loudly against the hard 
shells. Such instruments were used to accompany the ceremonial dances of 
the Indians, and may be seen in several museum collections devoted to the 
American Indian. 



ALLIGATOR SNAPPING TURTLE 


If turtles were given to sneering, the alligator snapper, largest North 
American turtle, could rightfully sneer at its close relative, the common 
snapper. In virtually every respect does it outshine its feared, but com¬ 
paratively puny, neighbor. For example, while the common snapper can 
bite off a man’s finger, the alligator snapper puts it to shame by easily 
being able to bite off a man’s arm. 

This denizen of the lower Mississippi, the Gulf States and the south¬ 
eastern United States attains a length of more than four feet and a weight 
of well over one hundred pounds. Down its dull yellow carapace run three 
rows of keels which look like miniature strings of mountain peaks and add 
little, if anything, to its beauty. The alligator snapper is generally consid¬ 
ered, and rightfully, to be the largest, ugliest and fiercest turtle in North 
America. 

Early backwoodsmen are responsible for its name. Pioneers thought 
that this creature was the result of a mating between the common snapping 
turtle and the alligator because it looks like the former but has a long, 
knobby alligator-like tail. However, the legend is untrue; science has yet 
to discover a romance between a crocodilian and a chelonian. 

Equipped with a pair of jaws capable of snapping a broom handle 
in two and then crunching it to bits, the voracious brute does not dally with 
its prey. Once its head, which is as large as a bull terrier’s, comes within 
striking distance of a fish, duck, frog or snake, the victim’s doom is sealed. 

In procuring food it uses the decoy with which nature generously pro¬ 
vided both the alligator snappers and common snappers. This consists of a 
pink filament lying on the turtle’s tongue. The turtle waves it about in a 
slow, circular motion so that it appears to be a worm. The body of the 
alligator snapper is not visible because the dull-yellow top shell blends with 
the coffee-colored water. As a fish pauses to investigate the worms floating 
over the “rock,” the jaws of the turtle open wide and finish the poor fish with 
a few sharp bites. 

When the alligator snapper walks on land, its body is held high on 
erect limbs, giving it a somewhat stilted, haughty appearance. The massive 

170 


Raymond L. Ditmars, New York Zoological Society. 

ALLIGATOR SNAPPING TURTLE (Macrochelys temminckii). Length: 3 feet. 
Range: Mississippi River region and southeastern United States. 


tail is used to help support its great bulk. Because of its ponderous weight, 
the alligator snapper moves about slowly. 

During the summer months, the female digs a hole in a sloping sand 
bank near the water. Here it deposits from twenty to forty eggs, each the 
size of a golf ball. 

The alligator snapper is hunted by the inhabitants of the Mississippi 
region, who relish its flesh. When it is captured alive, it seems to be ex¬ 
tremely moody and will eat only if provided with a hiding place where it 
can dine in solitude. 

One member of this species lived in captivity for forty-three years. 


171 






MUSK AND MUD 
TURTLES 

MUSK TURTLE 


This is the skunk of the turtle world. 

It has been derisively dubbed with such local nicknames as “stinkpot” 
and “Stinkin’ Jenny,” which, truth to tell, it heartily deserves. 

It is a small creature, measuring about six inches from extended head 
to tip of tail, but it can keep off far stronger adversaries by emitting its 
horrible, musky-smelling secretion. In addition this odor, released from 
skin openings, probably serves to attract prospective mates in much the 
manner of crocodilians. 

The musk turtle lives in ponds and sluggish streams. Its food is secured 
on the mud bottom where it voraciously preys upon tiny fish, insects, tad¬ 
poles, fish eggs and snails, for it has a keen appetite. Much activity is also 
expended in scavenging bits of dead fish and water fowl. This turtle uncon¬ 
sciously mimics the common snapper when it snaps its beak on a victim. 
If the opportunity presents itself, the musk turtle will attempt to chew a 
man’s finger. It is quite a ferocious creature for its size, and its ill-temper 
rivals the snapper’s. 

The carapace, more than three inches long and two inches wide, is 
dark brown, and often striped. But the coating of green slime that covers 
it makes the colors inconspicuous. It has a large head and sharp-edged 
jaws. 

This creature leaves the water only on rare occasions, usually to lay its 
eggs. In winter it hibernates in the muddy bottoms of ponds and swamps. 

In June the female lays from three to seven thick-shelled eggs. The 
e S§ s are deposited in a depression in the mud bank, among piles of reeds 
or in the rotting wood of tree stumps. At birth, the young are soft-shelled 
and about one-half inch long. They reach maturity in about a year. 

Unlike most pond turtles the musk turtle can live in deep water. Several 
placed in deep water by Dr. Ditmars seemed to experience no difficulty 

172 



From Ditmars’ REPTILE BOOK. 


MUSK TURTLES (Sternothems odoratus). Length: 3% inches. Range: Eastern 
United States. 


although kept there for weeks. They simply swam to the surface for air, a 
feat, however, which would exhaust most pond turtles and lead them to 
drown. 

Not only does the musk turtle annoy fishermen by eating young fish, 
but it also tenaciously grabs the hook as though the hook really contained a 
delicious meal for a turtle. It is a great swimmer and yanks the line so 
vigorously that the angler believes he has caught a whopper. Usually the 
fisherman is moderately angry when his eyes show him his catch, but when 
his nose picks up the musk turtle’s scent, he cuts the line quicker than if 
he were fishing in prohibited waters and saw the game warden coming. 


173 


MUD TURTLE 


Closely related to the musk turtle, and also emitting an evil-smelling 
scent, the mud turtle dwells in muddy streams and ponds. It is also called 
the mud box terrapin, because its lower shell is hinged, enabling it to pull 
in its limbs, head and tail, and bring the two shells together like a box. 
Sometimes very old turtles are unable to use this defense because the two 
hinges become stiff and bony. 

The male is equipped with a sound-producing mechanism, which is 
used to attract the female during the mating season. Horny scales on the calf 
and thigh are rubbed together to produce a noise like the chirp of a cricket. 

During the winter the mud turtle leaves the water. According to Cahn 
it hibernates in higher ground, burrowing a cozy nook about ten inches 
below the surface. 

It feeds on small fishes and insects, and in captivity is quite willing 
to lunch on earthworms and chopped fish or beef. Although it eats other 
creatures, it is seldom attacked. However, snakes, weasels and skunks relish 
its eggs, which are found in mud or rotting logs. Three to five eggs, quite 
long and smooth, are laid by the mud turtle. 

The mud turtle is a trifle larger than the musk turtle. Its top shell 
is a drab brown, sometimes with black edges on the shields. One has lived 
in a washbowl for twenty-five years. It has been cared for by William T. 
Davis, President-Emeritus of the Staten Island Museum. 

Like their cousins, mud turtles have been kept in deep water without 
any ill effects. In rising to the surface for air, they exhibit no haste, but 
tread the water with an even movement of their webbed feet. 

As in all mud and musk turtles, the female is smaller than the 
male and has a smaller tail. 

The Arizona mud turtle, which swims in the swift currents of the 
muddy Colorado River, is the largest species in the United States. Its shell 
is six inches long. 


174 


New York Zoological Society. 

MUD TURTLE (Kinosternon subrubrum). Length: 5 inches. Range: Eastern and 
southern United States. 


WATER TURTLES 

PAINTED TURTLE 


Daubed by nature with gaudy yet pleasing colors this small pond turtle is 
acclaimed as the prettiest of all. It has a six-inch top shell of black or deep 
olive, often trimmed with a yellow border on the front margin of each plate, 
and yellow stripes along its throat. The lower shell is also of rich yellow 
hue; the limbs, tail and marginal plates connecting the two shells are 
splotched a brilliant red. 

Despite its flashy clothes, the painted turtle is a shy little creature. 
One of its favorite pleasures is to sun itself on a fallen trunk in the pond, 
and sometimes groups of them, lined up like a row of soldiers, will take 
possession of a floating log. 

But if someone approaches, they drop back into the water and swim 
down to the bottom. They will return to their sun bath only after recon- 
noitering assures them that the coast is clear. 

The painted turtle crawls through the thick grass on the banks, and 
therefore its lustre may be somewhat dimmed by a coating of mud. Along 
the shore and in the water, it picks up such food as moss, insects, small 
fishes and tadpoles. 

The flesh of the painted turtle may be eaten, but because of its small 
size the turtle has no commercial value. This removes one source of danger, 
but it still has such enemies as skunks, weasels, crows and birds of prey. 
Against them it will put up a frantic yet ineffectual struggle. 

In June it lays from five to eight soft, elliptical eggs. The painted turtle 
begins to lay eggs at the age of eleven. Thoreau wrote an interesting account 
of his first-hand observations of a female going through this process. He 
stooped so that his face was little more than a foot from Mrs. Turtle, who, 
unconcerned about Thoreau, proceeded with her task. 

She stopped by a pitch pine and began to dig a hole with her hind feet, 
resting her body on the forelegs. In a few minutes a small hole about two 
inches deep was excavated. Then the eggs were dropped in and, without 
turning to look at them, she separated them one from the other with her 

176 


Raymond L. Ditmars, New York Zoological Society. 

PAINTED TURTLES (Chrysemys picta ). Length: 6 inches. Range: Northeastern 
United States. 


hind legs. Following this, the eggs were padded with soft earth which the 
turtle pressed down compactly. She hid the hole with more earth, leaves 
and grass. Forty-five minutes after mother turtle had come to the spot, she 
left without once having deigned to glance at her handiwork. 


SLIDER TURTLES 


Closely related to the painted turtles are the American sliders. Typical 
species such as the red-bellied terrapin, which like other sliders employs its 
legs in scooping out the earth to deposit its eggs; Troost’s terrapin, the 
males of which, like other fresh-water species, have exceedingly long 
mandarin-like nails; the long-necked chicken terrapin; the Florida cooter 
(“cooter” being an American corruption of the original African name for 

177 


a terrapin — Kouta) and other species such as the map and yellow-belly, 
are all of commercial value and are to be seen in the fish markets of the 
eastern seaboard, the Gulf and Central States. 


SPOTTED TURTLE 

Bright yellow-orange spots in each of the top shell’s black shields is 
responsible for the spotted turtle’s name. 

These turtles may be seen in fresh-water ponds in the eastern United 
States, and sometimes according to J. T. Nichols they even venture into 
brackish areas. They enjoy sunning themselves, and will clamber on a log 
in groups, sometimes so numerous that they are perched one atop the other. 
These attractive creatures are intelligent enough to quickly learn the way 
through a maze — if there is food at the end. 

Their shell is about four inches long, although smaller in the females, 
whose tail is also shorter than that of the males. When born, the young 
have an egg-tooth on their nose to help them crack through the eggshell; 
it disappears a week later. 

Like many of its chelonian brethren, the spotted turtle hibernates in 
the mud beneath the water. Sometimes, when a premature thaw breaks the 
frost, the turtle will ascend to the surface with the speed of molasses. It 
will enjoy its first bit of sun in a long while, strolling along the bank. But 
as the sun goes down and frost once again sets in, the impetuous creature 
will learn that it made a mistake in believing spring had come. It will be 
unable to move its sluggish body through the frozen mudbank and several 
months later only scattered bits of its shell will be left to greet the spring. 


LEPROUS TURTLE 


A related species is the leprous turtle of Spain, Morocco and Algeria, so 
named because in stagnant and impure water it acquires a skin disease su¬ 
perficially akin to man’s leprosy. The shell of the leprous turtle is cracked 
by the hot sun and it becomes infected from the foul waters. 

178 



Photo by S. C. Dunton, New York Aquarium,. 

“PAINTED” TURTLES, like this sped- the binding agent in the paint 

men, sold as souvenirs, seldom live causes the shell to curl, 

to achieve maturity, because— preventing proper growth 

and causing suffocation. 


Some members of this species which live in clean, fresh water are 
not affected and retain a healthy appearance. The top shell of a leprous 
turtle is about eight inches long and is a dull olive gray, while the bottom 
shell and legs are yellow. Their bright colors tend to fade as they grow 
older. The young ones are quite different from the adults, having an orange 
dot on each olive brown shield. 

Leprous turtles can be kept in captivity for many years, eating under 
water. At first they produce a strong, distasteful stench, which becomes less 
and less offensive as they become acclimated. They can live out-of-doors 
as far north as England, but then they hibernate in the winter. If kept in 
tanks of warm water, they do not hibernate and they mate throughout the 
year rather than at a specific season. 

Related species of pond turtles include the semi-aquatic, brown-shelled 
wood turtle of the eastern United States; the Caspian turtle; the European 
pond turtle; and the numerous Asiatic and East Indian varieties that serve 
the native populations as sources of food, destroyers of insects and scaven¬ 
gers of stagnant pools and sewage-clogged streams. 


DIAMOND-BACK TERRAPIN 

The diamond-back is undoubtedly the most popular North American terra¬ 
pin. To its many admirers, however, it has little charm when in its native 
salt marshes or muddy tide flats. But put it in a kettle with the other 
ingredients necessary for making a savory diamond-back terrapin stew — 
and its popularity is well-nigh limitless. 

179 




So great has been the demand for these creatures from epicures, that 
at one time the species was threatened with extinction. The price for a large 
terrapin has been as high as ten dollars, and a normal price may be from 
sixty to seventy-five dollars a dozen. When it is considered that the average 
specimen has a shell of about eight inches and weighs only three pounds, 
the price it brings stamps it as a luxury food. 

The diminishing supply led to the establishment of terrapin “farms” 
in such states as the Carolinas and Georgia. Here wild terrapins were placed 
in captivity and fattened for market. Some of these enterprises are com¬ 
mercial hatcheries which breed diamond-backs, nurturing the young until 
they are delectable enough for the connoisseur’s table. As an emergency 
measure North Carolina in 1923 prohibited the capture of terrapins for a 
five-year period, and Hildebrand began experiments in cooperation with the 
Bureau of Fisheries to save the precious animals from complete extinction. 

There are “farms” which imitate the Florida alligator “farms” by 
exhibiting terrapins with clever traits. One, at Isle of Hope, near Savannah, 
Georgia, features a piano-playing diamond-back which, when posed on a 
tiny player piano, will wiggle its claws as though really producing the music. 

The diamond-back has quite a degree of intelligence. Experiments 
have shown that it can learn to associate certain sounds or even lights with 
its feeding time, and will come promptly to the feeding place. 

The diamond-back acquired its popular name from the diamond-shaped 
pattern of the plates on its rough, dark olive top shell. Its lower shell is 
yellow. The mouth has a sharp cutting edge and a wide grinding plate, per¬ 
mitting it to eat shellfish without difficulty. Other staples in its diet include 
grass, snails and mollusks. In captivity it consumes chopped clams and 
oysters, shrimps and fish. It prefers to eat under water. 

Among diamond-backs, the female is the dominating sex, attaining a 
shell length of from eight to twelve inches, while the runty male, stretching 
himself to his full length, has a shell of only four inches. 

The females lay from five to twelve eggs, which are buried five inches 
deep in the mudbank or at the edge of a marsh. The one-inch-long young 
are hatched in the summer time but remain in the nest until the following 
spring, not feeding at all during that period. However, those born on the 
“farms” are not permitted to hibernate and are fed to increase their rate 

180 


New York Zoological Society. 

DIAMOND-BACK TERRAPIN (Malaclemys centrata concentrica ). Length: 8 inches. 
Range: Massachusetts to Maryland. 


of growth. It is interesting to note that the death rate of young turtles raised 
on “farms” is only about five per cent. 

Diamond-backs cannot live in fresh water since a fungus grows on 
their bodies and infects their flesh. In captivity, they will thrive if salt is 
mixed into their water, to give it the brackish flavor of their native habitat. 


BOX TURTLE 


A timid little creature, the common box turtle has a number of enter¬ 
taining characteristics and is the subject of humorous stories. 

It can completely seal its body within its two shells, thus withdrawing 
from the outside world whenever danger seems to threaten. The lower shell 
is hinged, enabling this turtle to pull in its legs, head and tail and then 

181 



close the lower shell so tightly against the upper that not even a toothpick 
can be inserted between the shells. 

When tamed, the box turtle becomes as delightful as more common 
pets and will even feed out of one’s hand. It consumes such edibles as earth¬ 
worms, raw meat, greens and fruit. Indeed it is so polite, that it will readily 
accept all the food it can eat and consequently may put on a good deal of 
excess weight. Sometimes it grows so fat that it cannot close its shells on 
both ends. Its bulging body pops out on one end when the shells are closed 
on the other, in a manner similar to that of a toy balloon which is squeezed 
by a child. The box turtle may become so accustomed to the safety of cap¬ 
tivity that it cannot even be tempted to close its shells. 

Most of its time is spent on land. It will enter the water only to ford a 
stream, cool off, or escape an enemy. It floats like a cork but swims with 
the irregular, frightened strokes of the novice swimmer who suddenly finds 
himself in water over his head. 

The common box turtle clambers slowly through the forests and fields 
although it can put on speed when necessary. It hunts insects, worms and, 
in season, blackberries. In its wanderings it maintains an excellent sense of 
direction. A box turtle has been carried miles from its haunts, then attached 
to a spool of thread which it unwinds as it journeys back to the starting 
point. Trailing it through the thread, C. M. and R. B. Breder observed that 
the turtle will pursue nearly a beeline in returning from where it was 
abducted. 

In their journeys in search for food and mates, box turtles avail them¬ 
selves of man’s smooth roads. Here they often meet death under the 
crushing wheels of automobiles. 

This animal seeks shelter under bushes. It does not burrow a hole in 
which to live but it manages, by burrowing, to force its legs into the ground. 
Then it forces the edges of the top shell down into the soil. All that remains 
showing is the rounded portion of the top shell which seems very much 
like a stone imbedded in the ground and is difficult to recognize as part of a 
turtle. 

When born, the box turtle is about the diameter of an American half 
dollar and when it is fully grown its oval shell is almost six inches long. 
From three to six eggs are laid by the female in a small hole in open 
fields, the operation being similar to the egg-laying of other water turtles. 

182 


New York Zoological Society. 


BOX TURTLE ( Terrapene Carolina ). Length: 5 inches. Range: Eastern United 
States except Florida. 


Miss Marion Bush, quoted by Ditmars in his excellent review of the species, 
wrote: 

“As to the time of day at which the eggs are laid:—The female comes 
to select a place about six o’clock in the evening, at a time when turtles 
have generally retired for the night. My theory is that the hour is chosen 
in order that she may be free from interruption, as the male turtle is a 
most ardent and inconsiderate wooer, apparently ready to mate at any 
season of the year.” 

The top shell of the common box turtle is brown or black and spotted 
with orange, red or yellow, while the bottom shell, also brown or black, is 
spotted with yellow. The hind feet generally have only four toes, each 
being clawed and partially webbed. 

A great many people have used the lower shells of turtles as a place 
to carve their initials, for box turtles have been known to live from thirty 
to sixty years. One turtle, according to Flower, attained the venerable age 

183 



of one hundred and twenty-three. Other remarkable age records have been 
obtained by Nichols who has marked the plastrons of Long Island specimens 
for many years. 

However, the custom of marking box turtles is not always in the 
interests of science. Once a European savant was visiting at the home of 
a Pennsylvania Dutch farmer. In his rambles through the countryside, he 
picked up a box turtle on whose plastron was inscribed, “G. W. 1732.” 
He naively rushed to his host with this “discovery”— a turtle not only two 
centuries old but also bearing Washington’s initials and date of birth. After 
seeing the specimen, the farmer went into the yard for a few minutes and 
returned with another box turtle inscribed, “Adam, 1.” 

The box turtle is remarkably hardy, and can go for a long period 
without food or water. In captivity this pleasant creature is clever enough 
to be taught to come to a water faucet and beg for a drink. 

These turtles are rarely used for food. There is one example, cited 
by Babcock, of striking Scranton coal miners, in 1902, who ate box turtles 
and were poisoned. It is believed that the turtles themselves had previ¬ 
ously eaten toadstools which do not injure them but poison humans. 

Miss Bush tells a story which indicates that although box turtles do 
not quarrel with man, they are not so pacific among themselves. “A curi¬ 
ous instance of fighting, for sheer love of fighting, came to my attention 
some years ago. In walking through the fields I collected a number of 
box turtles, which I set free almost immediately. One was an unusually 
handsome male, quite unblemished except for a curious scar across his 
nose. 

“After carrying him a little I put him down in company with a smaller 
but older male. Chancing to come upon them later, I found the one with 
the scarred nose making the most furious onslaughts on the other, who had 
wisely shut himself up and was impervious to attack. The attacker con¬ 
tinued to make lunges until his nose was torn and bleeding from the contact 
with the other’s shell. Finally he succeeded in turning his victim upon 
its back, whereupon he planted his feet firmly upon the closed plastron 
and stood with neck outstretched, lacking only the voice to crow over his 
victory.” 

The largest of the nine species of box turtles is the southern box turtle, 
inhabiting the pine forests and palmetto tangles of Florida, southern Geor- 

184 


UNDERSIDE OF BOX TURTLE SHOW¬ 
ING HINGE 



New York Zoological Society. 


gia and southeastern Texas, whose shell is seven inches long. The shell is 
high and narrow, embellished with thin green lines radiating from the 
center. Other species are scattered over many parts of North America 
from Maine to Yucatan. 

Curiously enough, all of the box turtles found in North and Central 
America are classified and included with the water and pond turtles, al¬ 
though in appearance and habits they are more like tortoises than tei- 
rapins. 




LAND TORTOISES 

GIANT TORTOISE 


On a few scattered island groups in the Pacific and Indian Oceans dwell 
the last of the giant tortoises. These are the creatures so familiar to every¬ 
one as the mild turtles which children may straddle for a ride. And, in 
legend, they are known as the “rocks” which suddenly arise and begin 
to walk after men have sat upon them. 

They are mighty indeed when compared to the other land tortoises. 
Their shells may measure more than four feet and, adding their large 
heads and long necks, their total length is considerably greater. They 
weigh as much as five hundred pounds. Yet despite these immense pro¬ 
portions, they are as meek as the tiny box turtles. 

The ultimate fate which awaits the entire group is mutely pictured 
in one of their native haunts, the Galapagos Islands, about six hundred miles 
west of Ecuador on the equator. On these volcanic islands there are thou¬ 
sands upon thousands of tortoises’ shells left to the harsh mercy of a 
glaring sun — the animals which once wore this armor have been killed by 
men, wild dogs and rats. Thus, a once mighty race is now on the road to 
complete disappearance although, if left alone, it might well be a numer¬ 
ous tribe since giant tortoises can possibly live for hundreds of years and 
reproduce from their tenth year onward. 

These massive creatures are best known from the specimens obtained 
on the Galapagos Islands. The islands have craters which still spout forth 
their fiery substance at irregular intervals and make life even more hazard¬ 
ous for the animal inhabitants. 

The surface of the Galapagos is coated with old and new lava flows, 
but through this fire-tempered slag heap, the turtles have worn smooth, 
slippery paths by their wanderings from the coast to the interior highlands. 
In crevices of the lava, and where the earth has been untouched by erup¬ 
tions, heavy grass, cactus and foliage grow, providing food for the tortoises. 

Like their kin throughout the world, the giants lead a lazy life. They 
move about only when necessary, to mate, eat and drink. When the 

186 


sun 









New York Zoological Society. 

GIGANTIC GALAPAGOS TORTOISE (Testudo vicina). Weight: 305 pounds. 
Length: 3% feet. Range: Southerly portion of Albemarle Island, Galapagos. 




beats down upon them too fiercely for comfort, they seek the shady shelter 
of some thorny bush. 

They are provided with a counterpart of the plover which picks 
leeches from crocodiles’ teeth. Little, red fly-catchers perch upon the tortoise 
and pick off the tiny grass seeds which get into the folds of its skin, the 
corners of its mouth and its nostrils. The tortoise apparently appreciates 
its little servant for it never evinces the slightest displeasure at its presence. 
An observer reported that he had seen one of the birds enjoying a ride on 
the back of a tortoise. It would fly off to pick up an insect and then return 

to its perch to continue the free ride. 

Other neighbors of the Galapagos tortoises are the wild cattle with 
which they live amicably. The cattle are descendants of those put ashore 
by sailors because they were breeding too fast in the holds of ships. The 
tortoises and the cattle will eat the same food and rest in the same area 

without getting into each other’s way. 

187 






The female tortoise is larger than the male and, being broad pos¬ 
teriorly, presents a matronly appearance. The male makes his affection 
known to her by bumping her shell and nibbling her limbs. If she is at 
all receptive, they mate to the tune of the male’s guttural bellows, which 
can be heard a quarter of a mile away. 

The female lays her eggs in October and November but, with astonish¬ 
ing acumen, doesn t “put them all in one basket.” Between twenty and thirty 
eggs are laid at one time, and about a week later an additional batch is 
deposited in another site. The eggs are perfectly round and about seven 
inches in circumference. 

In making a nest, the female scoops out a hole about a foot wide 
and fifteen inches deep. The eggs are piled in several layers, between 
each of which the mother packs about an inch of manure. The sides and 
top of the hole are lined with soft earth. Then the mother pounds down 
the top until a hard crust is formed which, theoretically, should protect the 
eggs until they hatch. 

But in spite of her pains few of the eggs ever remain safe. The wild 
dogs of the Galapagos, descendants of tame dogs landed by early voyagers, 
have developed an insatiable love for tortoise eggs. Tens of thousands of 
eggs are broken and eaten yearly by the dogs, and the effect upon the 
birth rate of the tortoises is obvious. Even those tortoises which are hatched 
live in constant danger from the dogs until they attain a length of at least 
one foot and their shells harden sufficiently to resist the canine marauders. 

One might expect that, in self-defense, the giant tortoise would de¬ 
velop an angry ferocity. But it does not. For example, on sighting a man, 
it utters a sharp hiss, withdraws its head and legs into its shell, and flops 
heavily to the ground. 

Man is perhaps a greater and more vicious enemy than the other 
animals. The human invaders have killed hundreds of thousands of full- 
grown specimens to obtain their oil for native cooks and cosmopolitan cos¬ 
meticians. And natives have no compunction about killing a three-hundred- 
pound tortoise just to obtain a few pounds of its meat for a meal. The 
tortoises are still further depleted by scientific expeditions. They do not 
readily reproduce in captivity. 

The attack upon the giant tortoises is believed by Dr. C. H. Townsend 
to have begun as early as the sixteenth century when sailing vessels stopped 

188 


New York Zoological Society. 


LARGEST AND SMALLEST GALAPAGOS TORTOISES - “OLD GRANDPA” 
AND “IKE” 


at the Indian and Pacific Ocean islands on which they are found. A com¬ 
mon practice was to seize hordes of tortoises and store them alive in the 
hold of the ship. They could be kept for months without food and were 
always on hand when fresh meat was needed. The number of portions 
that could be served from a single tortoise is further indicated from Dar¬ 
win’s observations that a large tortoise required six men to carry it. 

After the heavy tropical rains the tortoise enjoys slopping about in 
the cool mud holes to refresh itself. This also relieves it of the wood ticks 
which cling to inaccessible parts of its flesh. 

The tortoise marches up and down the hills, from its highland habitat 
to the seashore, as the weather changes. It requires almost three days to 
cover eight miles although it stops only for food. The Galapagos tortoise 
is energetic enough to ascend the slopes of the steepest hills in quest of new 
ranges. Occasionally such explorations result in death by a fall from a 
cliff. If it is not injured by a fall it will continue again and again to essay 

189 


the climb, stopping only when injured or killed. There is a purpose in these 
climbs, for the tortoise likes the springs and moist meadows of the higher 
altitudes. 

This giant is a genuine landlubber. It is almost helpless when thrown 
into the sea. Although it will float for days wherever carried by the current, 
it can swim but feebly, floating too high to be a good swimmer. William 
Beebe has found that it is adversely affected by swallowing salt water. 

During the breeding season the males seem to be in a fighting mood. 
They will push against one another, buckle up, rear up on their hind legs 
and snap at each other, but no one seems to get hurt. If a tortoise is turned 
over on its back, it will right itself by swinging its legs in one direction 
to gain momentum for the turn, and shoving its long neck against the 
ground to gain leverage as does a wrestler in distress. 

The giant tortoise attains its great bulk from a purely vegetable diet. 
It nibbles grass, moss and, strangely enough, the spiny leaves of cactus. In 
captivity it will thrive on clover, melons, pumpkins and hay, and it loves 
bananas. The tortoise has the intelligence to come up to the keeper and 
feed out of his hand when it detects a favorite food on the menu. Once 
or twice a week the captive tortoise will guzzle eight quarts of water at 
one sitting. 

These creatures are really as old as they are big. One specimen in 
the New York Zoological Gardens since 1901 is said to be over two hun¬ 
dred years old and still going strong. Many have been observed to live 
for more than one hundred and fifty years. A United States Navy report 
states that a Galapagos tortoise branded by Captain James Cook in 1773 
was still alive in 1923, but quite decrepit. A tortoise, imported from the 
Galapagos, which kept Napoleon company during his exile is still alive 
on St. Helena. 

So pleasant are the Galapagos tortoises that children sit on their backs 
and ride around. One species even has a shell conveniently shaped like a 
Spanish saddle. A favorite trick to make the tortoise begin to lumber is 
to hold an apple on a stick before its nose. To make the tortoise turn 
around, the rider simply turns the stick (and the apple) to one side, and 
the tortoise swings around in its futile effort to grab the morsel. 

Children of the Galapagos Islands bore holes in the shells of baby 
tortoises and make them draw their toy carts around. 

190 


PORTRAIT OF “OLD GRANDPA' 



(NYZP) Ralph De Sola, Federal Writers’ Project. 


The charm of this tortoise is illustrated by one which was saved from 
the doom that a Valparaiso restaurant owner was about to mete out, and 
taken to Regent’s Park, London. It developed a zest for buns and would 
rise on its hind legs, mutely begging for this delicacy. 

It is unfortunate that these survivors of so many millions of years of 
change should now be facing extermination. Since the seventeenth century, 
an estimated ten million tortoises have been taken from the Galapagos 
Islands. In 1691, an explorer could write, “Sometimes you see two or three 
thousands of them in a flock, so that it is possible to walk a hundred paces 
on their backs.” But now one is much more likely, when frequenting their 
haunts, to see an equally impressive number of shells and skeletons as 
testimony to their unhappy fate. 


191 


GOPHER TORTOISE 


Mr. and Mrs. Gopher Tortoise stay home during the hot, sunny part of 
the day, for it is cool in their subterranean burrow a dozen feet deep. The 
secluded burrowers never have other tortoises to keep them company in 
their dugout, although they generally have many neighbors. This is evi¬ 
denced by the tell-tale mounds of earth clustered together in a region where 
a colony of gophers has scooped out its dwellings. 

The animal world does provide the pair with uninvited guests. The 
burrowing owl, raccoon, gopher frog, blacksnake and coachwhip snake dart 
into the underground sanctuary when trouble brews above. During the 
day, indefatigable spiders weave strands across the mouth of the hole only 
to see them broken when the tortoises come out. And a new species of 
“tumble bug” has been discovered in the gopher’s home. This insect feeds 
on the excrement of the tortoise and is to be found only near a colony 
of gophers. 

In the evening the gopher clambers out of its hole and casts about 
for a meal. A vegetarian, it will dine on grass, clover, lettuce and berries. 
Because it damages gardens and orchards, man has no scruples about killing 
it off. In captivity, where it must be kept perfectly dry and warm, it may 
deign to eat a piece of raw meat. It can be taught to come forward to 
feed out of the keeper’s hand and put in an appearance at mealtimes when 
kept as a household pet. 

During the breeding season the male utters a short, rasping, mating 
call. In June the female lays five eggs beneath the sandy mound outside 
her door, exposing them to the sun’s heat. The eggs, as large as pigeons’, 
are considered rather good eating in the southern part of the United States. 
And even if the egg hatches, the creature itself may become a morsel 
for some local lover of tortoise flesh. 

The gopher tortoise, when born, has a dull, yellowish blotch on each 
of the top shell’s shields. As it grows older, it loses this bit of color and 
remains a dull brown. 

The smooth, flattened shell is about twelve inches long. From the front 
of the lower shell there extends a heart-shaped projection which is used 
as a spade when the tortoise scoops out its home. An average specimen 

192 





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, c . ' :;.-■ -J m M+ 

- * " V f,' . - - ' >, 

V v : 

«1ST SC*.- ■ - 

'■’ # ;J:•-;/ >--js’^^ ' ■ ' 




American Museum of Natural History. 


DESERT TORTOISE (Gop/iems berlandieri). Length: 1 foot. Range: Southern 
Texas and northern Mexico. 


weighs about nine pounds, the female being slightly larger than the male. 

When an old gopher, wandering along the sandy terrain, sees danger 
coming it seems to resign itself to its fate by drawing in its head and limbs 
and sinking down. The younger and more daring gophers, however, make 
a beeline for their burrows with about as much rapidity as could be opti¬ 
mistically expected from such slow-moving creatures. Should a man seize 
them, they attempt to kick their way to freedom with their clubbed feet. 

If it is lucky enough to avoid the dangers besetting tortoises, the 
gopher may live for more than a hundred years. 

Another tortoise inhabiting the New World is the red-footed tortoise 
of northern South America and the West Indies. In the Antilles it is almost 
extinct according to Grant. Ranging as far south as Argentina is a related 
species which, like its red-footed relative, has a shell two feet long. 


193 




SOFT-SHELLED TORTOISE 


While the gopher is provided with instruments for digging its home, the 
East African soft-shelled tortoise squeezes its way in between rocks and 
crevices to establish a dwelling place. Bones missing from the shells permit 
a flexibility which enables it to slightly inflate or deflate its frame, accord¬ 
ing to necessity. 

By way of exception to the general rule, this tortoise lives in the water 
during the rainy season. 


GREEK TORTOISE 


The Greek tortoise, well-known as a household and garden pet through¬ 
out Europe, is typical of the land tortoises of the Old World. It is found 
in the northern half of the Balkan Peninsula, and parts of Asia Minor 
and Syria. It has a pale olive top shell about six inches long. 

When the tortoise sights its traditional foe, the bearded vulture, it 
withdraws into its shell. Nevertheless, the bird swoops down upon it, carries 
it aloft and drops it upon stony ground to smash its protective armor. One 
such unfortunate tortoise, dropping to its doom, fell upon the head of 
Aeschylus, the Greek poet, causing his death. 

Some believe this tortoise to be a music-lover. There is a report 
that during a concert in a small European town, a group of Greek tor¬ 
toises came to the edge of the bandstand and listened intently, heads 
smartly erect, until the conclusion of the final number. Experiments, how¬ 
ever, have shown that any succession of sounds arrests the attention of 
tortoises whether the source be a symphony orchestra or the staccato exhaust 
of a steamshovel. 

It seems rather lazy, even for a tortoise. It goes to sleep quite early 
and rises late. During the mating season, from May until late summer, 
the males woo the females. The male utters a piping sound and caresses his 
belle by bumping shells. Several weeks later, the female lays from two to 
four oval eggs. 


194 


(CPM) 


Ralph De Sola, Federal Writers’ Project. 

ALBINISTIC SOUTH AMERICAN TORTOISE (Testudo denticulata ). Length: 1 
foot. Range: Tropical South America and found on a few West Indian islands. 

Albinism, lack of pigment, is seldom encountered in turtles. This speci¬ 
men is perhaps unique. 


In captivity Greek tortoises thrive on vegetables, bread and milk, and 
water. Peddlers sell them in England as pets, often claiming that they 
eat the black beetles that infest homes. However, being vegetarians, the 
captive tortoises refuse this diet and die. 

When they receive proper care, they live quite long. The famous 
tortoise owned by Gilbert White was kept for fifty-four years though its 
total age was not known. An even more venerable specimen traced by 
Flower was the ancient Greek tortoise owned by Archbishop Laud of Can¬ 
terbury who placed it in his garden in 1628. It lived for one hundred and 
two years, and then it was accidentally killed by a gardener. 

Many other tortoises of similar size and habits live in the Old World. 
These include the Iberian tortoise of Spain and North Africa; the hinged- 
back tortoise of Abyssinia; the seventy-five pound leopard tortoise of East 
Africa; and the handsome star tortoise of India. 

195 


SEA TURTLES 

TRUNKBACK TURTLE 


Despite their immense bulk, trunkback, or leathery turtles swim swiftly 
and easily along the ocean bottom in search of food. Their limbs are long, 
flat and paddle-like, lacking the plates characteristic of other sea turtles. 
Little is known of this giant reptile’s habits, but the construction of its 
jaws leads scientists to believe that it eats seaweeds, fishes, mollusks and 
shellfishes. 

The trunkback is the largest of sea turtles, in fact the largest of all 
living reptiles, record specimens having weighed as much as fifteen hun¬ 
dred pounds. The head, which like the body is also plateless, may have 
a diameter of ten inches, while the flipper-spread may be as much as 
nine feet. The armor of this seagoing fortress consists of seven heavy keels, 
running lengthwise down the back and covered with a leathery skin. The 
color is dark brown or black, sometimes spotted with yellow. It is from 
this huge shell that the god Hermes was believed to have fashioned the 
first harp. Since in ancient times the trunkback actually did inhabit the 
Mediterranean, it is quite possible that the early Greeks fashioned musical 
instruments from its shell. 

At mating time the female trunkback crawls out on the beach above 
the tide line and digs a hole about two feet deep, using her hind feet 
as scoops. She neatly arranges her ninety to one hundred and fifty eggs 
in the nest, smooths out the sand so as to leave no trace of her activities 
and departs never to return. 

After the sun’s heat has incubated the eggs, the young crack their 
shell by means of a hooked egg tooth on their beaks and make their way 
to the water. 

In India and Ceylon where Deraniyagala has observed this giant turtle 
the monitor lizard eats the trunkback’s eggs, and sea birds prey on the 
young. It is curious to note that only young and fully grown trunkbacks 
have been observed. Half-grown specimens are unknown. 

The flesh of this chelonian is not eaten. The oil, however, is used in 

196 



American Museum of Natural History. 

TRUNKBACK TURTLE (Dermochelys coriacea). Weight: 900 pounds. Length: 6 
feet. Range: All temperate and tropical oceans. 


Ceylon as a varnish for seagoing canoes. Hornaday wrote that a pint 
of oil can be extracted from each square foot of the trunkback’s blubber¬ 
like coating. 


GREEN TURTLE 


In shallows not far from the shore, green turtles graze along the bottom 
of the ocean on seaweeds, shrimps, lobsters and small shellfishes. Like 
other sea turtles they must from time to time come to the surface for air. 
The shell of these marine reptiles is olive or brown with yellow blotches; 
the breastplate or plastron is yellow. The term “green” arises from the 
greenish fat inside the shell. The surface of the shell is frequently covered 
in part with clusters of barnacles and short fronds of seaweed. 

197 


Because of their economic uses, green turtles are rarely found in 
the large sizes or numbers that once were common. Formerly, six-foot 
turtles weighing five hundred pounds were usual, while today specimens 
sent to American markets from South Atlantic and Caribbean waters range 
from seventy-five to one hundred and fifty pounds. The species is also found 
in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. 

Green turtles are caught by means of nets, harpoons and poles. They 
frequently sleep on the surface of the ocean and sometimes on desolate 
beaches and in this condition are easily taken. When sleeping at sea their 
dormant backs, floating just out of water, provide resting places for small 
gulls and terns. When ambushed on the beach they are turned on their backs 
by a deft stroke of a long pole. They are shipped to market either lying 
on their backs or in great water tanks placed on the vessel’s deck. Some 
are so heavy that they must be loaded and unloaded with the help of 
derricks. 

The famous soup, cherished by gourmets, is made from the shell with 
the dense green fat clinging to it. Turtle soup is about one-third flesh, fresh 
vegetables, sherry wine, a number of spices and water. Aside from being 
a great delicacy, the soup is said to derive medicinal value from the iodine 
and phosphate contained in the seaweed eaten by the turtle. 

Related marine turtles, the loggerhead and Kemp’s bastard, have simi¬ 
lar habits, but are not valued for their flesh. 


HAWKSBILL TURTLE 


One of the smallest sea turtles, the hawksbill is also the most valuable to 
man because of the fine texture and strength of its beautiful shell. Like 
other sea turtles, this two-and-a-half-foot species grazes along the bottom 
of ocean shallows for seaweed and crustaceans. It, too, lays its eggs on a 
sandy beach just above the tide line and then promptly forgets about them. 

In Cuba this turtle is sometimes caught in an unusual fashion. A 
remora, or sucking fish, is thrown into the sea with a line attached to its 
tail. When the adhesive disk on the fish’s head clings to the turtle, the 
fisherman pulls in the line. 


198 



In the West Indies the turtle is killed and left to rot on the beach. 
This loosens the plates, which then are put in boiling water to soften them 
and make them pliable. A large specimen yields about eight pounds of 
tortoise shell. In the East Indies, however, the turtle is boiled alive, as the 
plates are believed to lose their color if they are left on the rotting reptile. 
The meat is said to be poisonous because of certain marine plants the reptile 
feeds on. Singhalese fishermen will not eat it before they have fed the 
liver to the crows. If the birds discard the liver, the turtle is said to be 
poisonous. The Singhalese also believe a hawksbill with fourteen shields to 
be poisonous. 

The shell of the hawksbill is a black or brown color, splotched with 
yellow. Articles made from it or inlaid with it are expensive and somewhat 
rare. It is, therefore, imitated with a man-made plastic product that is 
more durable and less expensive. Cigarette cases, Spanish combs, and inlaid 
furniture made of real tortoise shell are exceedingly costly and increas¬ 
ingly rare. 


199 


SNAKE-NECKED 

TURTLES 

MATAMATA 


Like a log covered with rough bark, the dark brown matamata lies sub¬ 
merged in the muddy waters of the Amazon, waiting for its prey. Fishes, 
frogs and tadpoles are attracted by the movements of the feeler-like threads 
that protrude from the skin on its neck. When they come close, they are 
not seized in the reptile’s jaws, which are weak and covered with a soft, 
fleshlike skin, but are engulfed by suction. The matamata’s shell, covered 
with thick, bony shields, may be as much as three feet long, while its 
head and neck may more than duplicate that length. For protection the 
head may be folded back under the shell. The tail is short. 

The young have black and yellow spots on their shields and are not 
as ungainly-looking as their parents. 

Related to the matamata are the South American snake-necked turtles. 
Largest of these is perhaps the Amazon river turtle, attaining a length of 
more than three feet and esteemed for its eggs as well as for its flesh. 
Thousands of them are taken every year to supply Brazilians with terrapin 
stew, pickled eggs and a curious sort of “butter,” made from mashed eggs. 


AUSTRALIAN SNAKE-NECKED 
TURTLE 


The ten-inch Australian snake-necked turtle is equally at home on land 
and water. With its long neck either stretched out straight or bent in an 
S-shape, it swims about by night in search of worms, frogs and caterpillars, 
which it catches by a swift, sidewise jerk of the head. It feeds exclusively in 
the water, but likes to rest and crawl about on land. Its shell is a rich dark 
brown, its breast-plate and eyes are yellow. 

These creatures thrive in captivity, provided they may choose freely 

200 




New York Zoological Society. 


MATAMATA TURTLE (Chelus fimbriatus ). Length: 2 feet. Range: The Guianas 
and northern Brazil. 


between land and water. Some specimens spend the major part of their time 
on land, under a shady ledge, lying motionless with their necks tucked side- 
wise beneath the shell. Though their eyes may be closed, they can see 
through the transparent lid. When the head is out, it looks like a snake. 



AUSTRALIAN SNAKE- 
NECKED TURTLE 
(Chelodina longicol- 
lis). Length: 6 inches. 
Range: Australia. 


New York Zoological Society. 



SOFT-SHELLED 

TURTLES 


Soft-shelled turtles make their home in the muck of riverbeds, where 
they feed chiefly on frogs and fishes. Their weapons in hunting are the 
agile claws on their three inside toes and a sharp biting mechanism con¬ 
cealed beneath their soft lips. The snakelike neck can be darted after prey 
with astonishing rapidity. It also serves as a breathing tube when in shal¬ 
low water; the reptile, instead of rising to the surface for air in person, 
merely thrusts up its tubular nose. Both the slender head and the feet can 
be completely withdrawn into the shell in time of danger, but though this 
gesture may give the reptile a sense of security, the shell is so soft that 
it offers little real protection. 

Soft-shelled turtles rarely come out of the water, except for the females 
who deposit their eggs in the riverbank, just above the water level. If sur¬ 
prised on land, they dash rapidly for the water, and often bruise their soft 
under parts on the rocks. The round eggs are heavy-shelled but brittle. 

These turtles are easily cared for in captivity and remain in good 
health if their tank is provided with a layer of sand for them to burrow 
in and a log on which they can occasionally climb out. A rock or concrete 
bottom causes sores on their soft bodies. 

The southern soft-shelled turtle, found in the southeastern United 
States, is the largest American variety, attaining a length of eighteen inches 
and a weight of forty pounds. Adults are light or olive-brown above and 
white below, while the young are mottled with black. These turtles are 
caught with hook and line. Southern Negroes are known to roll the smaller 
ones in corn meal and cook them whole, after cutting off the heads and 
cleaning them through a small hole in the breastplate. Because of their 
shape they are popularly called flapjack or pancack terrapins. 

Another American species is the spiny soft-shelled turtle of the Missis¬ 
sippi, St. Lawrence and Great Lakes. Adults are a foot in length; their 
upper shell is olive, and their breastplate white. The front edge of the shell 
is armed with spines. There are two light stripes down the head. The young 
have black circles on the shell. 


202 


New York Zoological Society. 


SPINY SOFT-SHELLED TURTLE (Amyda spinifera). Length: 1 foot. Range: 
Eastern United States to Montana and Colorado. 


The genus Emyda of India has flaps at the rear of the plastron, which 
close over the legs when they are pulled in, while the front of the upper 
shell folds down to cover the head and front legs. The shell, however, is so 
soft that this ingenious contrivance affords little real protection against 
beasts of prey. 


203 




/ 


AMPHIBIANS 

(Worm-like Amphibians, Salamanders and Newts, Frogs and Toads) 

Hundreds of thousands of years ago, in the steamy humidity of the 
swamps and jungles of the Devonian age, the development of living things 
took a gigantic step forward when backboned creatures first emerged from 
the sea to spend intervals on land. Some of them were enormously large, 
reptile-like, and covered with formidable armor; others were more like cer¬ 
tain fishes known from fossils of that age. Their special characteristics, 
however, were vocal expression and the ability to live on land as well 
as in the water. 

Present-day amphibians, or batrachians as they are sometimes called, 
retain these fundamental traits. However, the modern descendants of the 
most primitive of four-footed animals are much smaller, weaker and numer¬ 
ically inferior. Yet in the course of their evolution from the earliest land 
pioneers they have become more highly specialized and structurally quite 
unlike their Devonian ancestors. 

Amphibians comprise a class of vertebrates whose place in the evolu¬ 
tionary scale is between the fishes and the reptiles. Like some reptiles, 
many amphibians are able to shed their skins. A few, when full grown, 
retain their tails and even look like reptiles. 

The life history of modern amphibians parallels the slow evolution 
of their ancestors. They are born, like most fishes, from eggs generally laid 
in the water. In many species the eggs, surrounded by a gelatinous envelope 
for protection, develop into larvae or tadpoles which breathe through 
gills and propel themselves by means of their tails. At this stage they are 
limbless. 

Then a miracle of nature takes place as the creatures prepare to bridge 
the gulf separating the denizens of the water from those on land. In certain 
species the external gills are greatly reduced, the tail fin is absorbed into 
the body, the larval skin is shed, lungs form, legs begin to “sprout,” and 
eyelids are grown. Recent discoveries indicate that these changes are to 
a great extent controlled by the action of glandular secretions in which the 
thyroid plays a part. 


205 


Here, however, the parallel with evolution ends, for the majority of 
mature amphibians, unlike the mammals, are incapable of breaking com¬ 
pletely with their aquatic mode of life. The reproduction of their kind 
can, as a rule, only be accomplished in a watery medium. So, back to 
the streams and ponds these amphibians must return to lay their eggs. Their 
cycle is completed. 

The amphibians of today are described and classified as follows: 
CLASS: 

AMPHIBIA — the amphibians, represented by about eighteen 
hundred living species of worm-like amphibians (coecilians), 
salamanders and newts, frogs and toads. All are backboned ani¬ 
mals, respiring chiefly through their skin. They have three- 
chambered hearts and, like reptiles, a variable body temperature 
that corresponds with the temperature of the surrounding air or 
water, hence they too are also called “cold-blooded.” In winter 
they hibernate. They are covered with a glandular skin, in some 
smooth, in others rough. They usually deposit their eggs in the 
water, and these gelatinous bodies after hatching, with but a few 
exceptions, pass through an aquatic larval existence before chang¬ 
ing into gillless adults. The eggs, unlike those laid by reptiles, are 
never covered with a calcareous shell. 

ORDERS: 

GYMNOPHIONA —the limbless, worm-like, short-tailed coecilians 
comprising some nineteen genera and fifty-odd species, generally 
distributed throughout the tropics with the exception of the island 
of Madagascar. 

CAUDATA — the four-limbed, tailed salamanders and newts, of which 
there are more than one hundred and fifty kinds distributed in 
most temperate and tropical countries of the earth. 

SAL1ENT1A —the long hind-limbed, tailless frogs and toads which 
number more than sixteen hundred species scattered throughout 
the temperate and tropical regions. 

In various parts of the world frogs and toads not only aid man by 
eliminating noxious, crop-destroying insects, but also serve as food. French- 

206 


men have been nicknamed “Frogs” because of their predilection for frogs’ 
legs. But they are not alone in this custom, as a cursory examination of 
the advertising matter of some American sporting journals will show. 
Advertisements of canned frogs’ legs, the “technique of frog farming in 
ten easy lessons” and “mating frogs for sale” would seem to indicate that 
some Americans are also addicted to frog flesh. In some oriental countries 
dried frogs and salamanders are used for curative purposes, although their 
therapeutic value is questionable. Tanned frog skins also serve in the manu¬ 
facture of fancy key-holders and purses, and in Japan toadskins are made 
into fine leather. 

As we shall discover in the text to follow, some South American tribes 
utilize poison frogs in tipping the barbed shafts of their arrows. And not 
a few thirsty Australian natives have relieved their parched throats by 
squeezing certain flatheaded burrowing frogs, from each of which they 
can press enough water to fill a wine glass. 

But indeed the amphibians’ greatest use to man has been as the ideal 
laboratory animal. According to Noble some of our most fundamental dis¬ 
coveries in general physiology, endocrinology and embryology have been 
made with amphibian material. 

Many myths surround the amphibians, chief of which concerns the 
warty toad, supposed to impart its lumpy blemishes to anyone handling it, 
and the salamander which, because of its cold, slimy skin, is supposed to 
live through fire. Equally famous are the tales of “showers of frogs” still 
told and believed by many people. In fact there is a certain scientific au¬ 
thority for this belief since many terrestrial species have the habit of con¬ 
cealing themselves during dry periods only to issue forth in great numbers 
to greet the return of the rains. 

While the amphibians figure but insignificantly in the human scheme, 
their numbers, universality and importance in animal evolution make them 
well worth knowing. Many distinguished American naturalists such as Hol¬ 
brook, Cope, Dickerson, Fowler, Holmes, Stejneger, Barbour, the Wrights, 
Gaige, Dunn, Noble, Bishop — to mention but a few — have concerned 
themselves with the life histories of amphibians. 


207 



WORM-LIKE 

AMPHIBIANS 

(COECILIANS) 





A Chern. Cartographer 


MOTHER GUARDING EGGS 


EMBR'iO COILED OVER YOLK SAC 


FULLY DEVELOPED EMBRYO 


^ ATLANTIC 


PACIFIC 


PACIFIC 


SOUTH^M 
^AMERICA/ OCEAN 


OCEAN 


7 OCEAN 


OCEAN 


|HATCHED AREA DENOTES APPROXIMATE DISTRIBUTION] 


COECILIANS 


LIFE CYCLE OF A 


WORM-LIKE AMPHIBIAN 


Worm-like and limbless, the fifty species of coecilians comprise what is 
certainly the most secretive and least known of the amphibian dynasty. 
Indeed, not one of these fifty species has a popular name. They owe their 
esoteric life to their small size and burrowing habits. Coecilians are dis- 

209 






























tributed throughout much of the tropical world. The largest species, a native 
of Ecuador, appears to be three feet long. 

Though these amphibians are related to frogs and salamanders, they 
seem to have originated from a different source. Unlike the more typical 
amphibians with soft moist skins, coecilians have scales which, though small 
and hidden beneath the skin, can be readily detected. Besides scales and 
ordinary slime glands, coecilians have glands from which they squirt a 
semi-poisonous irritating fluid. So slippery is the slime covering their bodies 
that they are exceedingly difficult to hold. 

The coecilian with which man is most familiar is Ichthyophis glutino- 
sus. About a foot long and one-half inch in diameter, it is colored dark 
brown or bluish-black. Yellow bands along each side brighten its otherwise 
dull appearance. The body is marked with narrow transverse folds. This 
species inhabits southern Asia and enters its breeding season after the spring 
monsoon, according to the Sarasins. 

The female curls about her string of two dozen or so yellow eggs after 
burying them in moist ground near running water. During the incubation 
period the eggs increase to nearly twice their original size. The evolving 
embryo develops three pairs of long delicately fringed gills which soon 
shrivel, leaving a small hole known as the gill cleft. 

After hatching, the larva lives aquatically for a long period. Two 
finlike crests on the tail act as propellers and enable the youthful Ichthy¬ 
ophis to reach the surface for air. At this stage, the eyes, though small, are 
well developed and about fifty epidermal sense organs appear as white spots 
on the gray skin, from gill cleft to tail tip. With further growth the tail 
shortens and loses its crests; a film of skin covers the eyes; facial tentacles 
make their appearance and the skin undergoes a complete transformation. 
Finally the larva emerges from the water and begins its burrowing under¬ 
ground life. 

The eel-like Typhlonectes is the only thoroughly aquatic coecilian, 
having the additional distinction of omitting the egg-laying stage observed 
by other members of the family. Only two other species of coecilians, the 
Siphonops of South America and the Dermophis of West Africa are known 
to bring forth their young alive. 

The specimens of Typhlonectes reproduced here were secured by Prof. 
E. R. Dunn and are probably the only individuals ever photographed. 

210 


S. C. Dunton, New York Aquarium. 


COECILIANS (Typhlonectes species). Length: 2 feet. Range: Tropical South 
America. 


211 








SALAMANDERS 
AND NEWTS 

(Tailed Amphibians) 



Salamanders have often fallen prey to human superstition. Because of 
their cold, shiny skin and seeming indifference to injury, these amphibians 
were believed in medieval times to be immune to fire, and the belief has 
persisted to this day in some backward rural regions. In order to prove or 

213 




























disprove this theory, countless salamanders have been flung to the flames, 
whence of course they never emerged. The chief victim of this practice of 
superstitious man was the spotted yellow-on-black European fire salaman¬ 
der, which in fact owes its common name to human credulity. In older 
times when wood was gathered from the forest and brought indoors to dry 
by the heat of the hearth, fire salamanders would emerge from the bark 
and crawl about the house. The inhabitants always thought they had 
emerged from the fire, however. Hence their name and the superstition sur¬ 
rounding them. 

Salamanders and newts are frequently confused with lizards because 
of their similar appearance. They are, however, immediately distinguished 
from those reptilians by the complete absence of scales. Newts, generally 
considered, are the smaller members of the salamander family. 

None of the salamanders can be considered dangerously venomous, 
but the skin of some species secretes fluids which are toxic to some degree. 
The fire or spotted salamander, for example, can, if sufficiently provoked, 
spray its milky-white poison to a distance of one foot by violent contrac¬ 
tions of the skin. This venom produces only smarting in humans, but it is 
fatal to small creatures such as frogs, which sometimes attempt to dine 
on live fire salamanders. 


GIANT SALAMANDERS 


Every family of animals has its giant; the salamanders have one which, 
when compared to the average size of the group, is gargantuan indeed. 
The giant salamander is not only the largest member of its immediate fam¬ 
ily, but also the largest of amphibians. A five-foot specimen from Japan 
lived in captivity in England for fifty-two years, and some are believed 
to live for more than a century. Giant salamanders inhabit the rushing 
mountain streams of Japan, China and Tibet, but usually seek out quiet 
shallow pools at the stream’s edge, where they reconnoiter sluggishly or 
lie completely motionless. They make their home beneath the rocks at the 
bottom of the stream and always keep the entrance to this abode scrupu¬ 
lously clear of debris. The giants search for their food at night. 

214 



New York Zoological Society. 

GIANT SALAMANDER (Megalobatrachus japonicus). Length: 5 feet. Range: Japan 
and China. 



New York Zoological Society. 


AXOLOTLS (Ambys- 
toma tigrinum ). 
Length: 6 inches. 
Range : Eastern 
United States to Cen¬ 
tral Mexico. 





Though ferocious-looking, they can be captured with almost ludicrous 
ease. A hook baited with a worm or frog serves to start them on their way 
to oriental cook-pots and medicine chests. Giant salamanders have large, 
depressed heads and squat bodies; their skins are spotted black-and-brown. 
Fleshy membranes border their bodies and their short limbs. The finned 
tails are rounded at the tip. 

A much smaller counterpart of the giant salamander is the “hell¬ 
bender, of the Mississippi and its tributaries. Though it is not nearly as 
vicious as its name would indicate, this eighteen-inch variety is a fighter 
and unbelievably hardy. Dr. Stejneger states that after soaking a hell-bender 
in alcohol for twenty-four hours to preserve it, he was amazed to find it 
not only alive but rather active. In appearance and life habits it is very 
much like its larger Asiatic relative. 


AMERICAN 

SALAMANDERS 


Virtually all salamanders, regardless of their mode of life, lay their eggs 
in water. The larvae have three pairs of gills at each side of the neck; in 
some salamanders these gills disappear at later stages, and in others they 
remain through life. One species, in fact, may under certain conditions 
never leave its larval form. This is the axolotl, long considered an unclassi¬ 
fied aquatic species, found in the deep lakes near Mexico City. They are 
now known to be the larvae of the tiger salamander, an American species 
so named because of its blotchy-yellow stripes on a brown or black body. 

Perhaps because of the dryness of the surrounding country axolotls 
never leave their lake abode, but retain their larval form, in which they 
often attain a length of one foot. They reproduce, however, in much the 
same manner as fully developed salamanders, so that one never knows if 
an axolotl is the offspring of another axolotl or a tiger salamander. By 
experimentation, naturalists have discovered that the axolotl can be forced 
to breathe through its lungs by gradually reducing its water supply. The 

216 



New York Zoological Society. 


SPOTTED NEWTS (Notophthalmus viridescens). Length: 3 inches. Range: Eastern 
North America. 




“CONGO EEL” (Amphi- 

uma means). Length: 
3 feet. Range: South¬ 
eastern United States. 


i 


flew York Zoological Society, 






gills shrink, and the axolotl matures into the tiger salamander. But if the 
creature is returned to deep water before the transformation is complete, 
the gills enlarge and the tiger salamander resumes its earlier form. Natives 
like to eat the axolotl either boiled or roasted. 

The marbled salamander is closely related to the “tiger.” 

Several members of the American salamander family have developed 
unique habits. The heavy-set, brownish-black Ambystoma talpoideum bur¬ 
rows rapidly into the earth like a mole, leaving ridges of turned-up soil 
behind it. 


NEWTS 


One of the most common of the American varieties is the crimson-colored 
spotted newt, which is known better in its larval than its adult stage. The 
young, known as red efts, are a brilliant coral color. For some years they 
are almost entirely terrestrial, returning to water only as they approach 
maturity. When fully grown this salamander is about three inches long. 
Its color is olive or yellow-green with black-bordered crimson spots lining 
each side. It thrives on snails and other tiny fresh-water invertebrates. 


“CONGO EELS” 

Another, the “blind-eel,” “Congo eel” or “Congo snake,” which is neither 
eel nor snake nor from the Congo, inhabits muddy waters from the Missis¬ 
sippi to South Carolina. In appearance and slipperiness it resembles the 
eel. Four hardly perceptible feet easily distinguish it, however, from the 
fish and from the two-footed siren. 


218 



New York Zoological Society. 


MUD PUPPY (Necturus maculosus ). Length: 1 foot. Range: Eastern United States. 


219 




BLIND 

SALAMANDERS 


Not long ago several blind and colorless small salamanders were taken 
fiom the depths of an artesian well at the United States Fisheries Station, 
at San Mai cos, Texas. Inhabiting water nearly two hundred feet below 
the earth s surface, these Texas blind salamanders are completely without 
lungs. They have bushy external gills, and their legs are exceptionally long. 
Though lungless, the family of the blind salamanders is perhaps the most 
versatile of all the salamander groups. The terrestrial salamander, a mem¬ 
ber of this family, lays its eggs on land; moreover, its embryo loses its 
gills before hatching and emerges a true copy of its parents. One blind 
salamander (Typhlotriton spelaeus ) curiously enough has sight in its 
larval stage, when it resides near the mouths of caves. 


PROTEANS 

The European blind salamander ( Proteus ) dwells in certain lightless sub¬ 
terranean lakes and mountain cavities east of the Adriatic. A distant rela¬ 
tive, both in appearance and habitat, is the “mud puppy,” Necturus, of 
North America, also called “water-dog.” This is an aquatic variety whose 
flattened tail makes it an unusually efficient swimmer. Its dark-brown mot¬ 
tled and spotted body is covered with thick slime which makes it almost 
impossible for human fingers to hold. Plume-like, velvety, red gills provide 
the creature with oxygen. The “mud puppy” is widely used for laboratory 
work. 


220 



Mr. . 




New York Zoological Society. 




SIREN (Siren lacertina). Length: 2^ feet. Range: South Atlantic, Mississippi and 
Gulf regions of the United States. 



The two-footed siren, despite its name, is one of the most ungainly of its 
order. Except for a pair of rudimentary legs at the front of its body it 
resembles a stout eel. The siren has large external gills and is easily identi¬ 
fied by a multitude of tiny light spots. It is also called the mud-eel and 
appears by that name in Stejneger and Barbour’s Check List of North 
American Amphibians and Reptiles. 







FROGS AND 
TOADS 

(Tailless Amphibians) 



ADULT 


[HATCHED AREA DENOTES APPROXIMATE DISTRIBUTION] 


FROGS 


AND 


TOADS 


LIFE CYCLE OF A TAILLESS AMPHIBIAN 





TADPOLE 


A. Chern, Cartographer 


Toads and frogs are not readily distinguished from one another, but gen¬ 
erally frogs are smooth and wet-skinned whereas toads are rough and 
dry. The intelligence quotient of the toad is conceded by Dr. Noble to be 
higher than that of the frog. In general the terrestrial species of amphibia 

223 























seem brighter than the aquatic. Toads usually tend more to a life on land 
but, as will be seen, some are almost totally aquatic. Though there are 
not many age records of these amphibians, some European toads are known 
to have lived thirty-six years in captivity. 

Both toads and frogs are renowned for their leaping ability, a fact 
well established in Mark Twain’s tale of The Jumping Frog. They have 
the exceptional advantage of being able to breathe with their lungs while 
above water and through their scaleless skin when below. 

The families of this order include the primitive toads of the north¬ 
western United States and New Zealand, and the related Old World primi¬ 
tive bell-toads found in Europe, Eurasia and the Philippines; the tongue- 
less toads of tropical Africa and northern South America; the spade-foot 
loads known principally from North America although found in many 
other regions, and the related forest frogs of the East Indies, southeastern 
Asia and the Seychelles; the true toads of almost world-wide distribution; 
the tree frogs, neotropical toads and their semi-aquatic relatives all found 
in the American tropics except for one African hylid; the typical frogs 
which include Rana of the New World although this family is more widely 
represented by the tropical tree frogs of the Eastern Hemisphere; and the 
closely related toads of the Indo-Australian and Malagasy regions. In all, 
some sixteen hundred species of the foregoing families are known. 

Because of the great number of families and species of toads and 
frogs it would he manifestly impossible to recount the life history and habits 
of all members of the order. Therefore only the most representative and 
interesting will be treated in the pages to follow. However, these have so 
many closely related species, with similar characteristics, that the neces¬ 
sary limits are not as severe as they might at first seem. 


PRIMITIVE TOADS 

FIRE-BELLIED TOAD 

The small fire-bellied toad has little to fear although the puny creature's 
only weapon is its brightly colored undersurface. The red belly 

224 


seems 



American Museum of‘Natural History. 


MIDWIFE TOAD WITH EGGS (Alytes obstetricans). Length: 3 inches. Range: 
France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, western Germany and southeastern Holland. 


to be a reminder of the toad’s poisonous secretions which cause internal 
disorders when swallowed. 

If danger threatens, this four-inch toad hastily flaunts the lurid red of 
its belly by raising its head, arching its back and then posing in absolute 
rigidity. Most small animals become momentarily paralyzed at the sight 
of a larger foe, permitting the larger creature to administer a swift coup 
de grace. But the immobility of this water toad is a protective device, 
granting an attacker ample opportunity to see the reddish color, symbolic 
of its poisonous nature. 

In contrast to the gaudy underparts, the toad’s back is somberly col¬ 
ored in dark gray or greenish black. During the mating season the male, 
which can readily inflate its throat, is moved to sad song. 

The fire-bellied toad is usually found in large lowland pools through¬ 
out northern Europe, but it has a counterpart in South China. Another 
close relative, the yellow-bellied toad inhabiting the highlands of southern 
Europe, differs only in color and the absence of the males’ vocal sacs. 

225 



MIDWIFE TOAD 


The midwife toad takes better care of the eggs entrusted to it than most 
animal mothers. Not only does it guard the eggs until they are hatched, 
but it even uses the further precautionary measure of carrying the eggs 
on its body wherever it goes. And yet such solicitous motherhood is not a 
feminine virtue, for strange to relate the midwife toad is the male member 
of the family. 

A string of eggs are wound around each of his hind legs as soon as 
Mrs. Toad finishes her part of the job. Then the male midwife toad hies 
himself off to some inconspicuous hole to await the birth of his babies, 
the end of his chore. 

At night he leaves his abode in search of food and to dampen the 
eggs in dew or water. When the eggs are ready to hatch, he goes to a 
nearby pool; there the soft eggshells dissolve and the well-developed tad¬ 
poles relieve their parent of his burden by slipping into the water. 

This odd creature is a native of southwestern Europe. Two inches long, 
he has a smooth gray or brown back, spotted with green or red. His under¬ 
parts are a grayish white, and further color is lent by golden irises shot 
with black. 


TONGUELESS TOADS 

Most toads are dependent upon their long darting tongues to capture in¬ 
sect prey, but two varieties have been denied this instrument. They are the 
Surinam and clawed toads, which lead almost totally aquatic lives and 
must catch and swallow their prey like fish. 


SURINAM TOAD 

The mother of a family of Surinam toads would put the proudest kan- 
garoo to shame, for the brood which she carries in the pouches on her back 

226 



American Museum of Natural History. 


MODEL OF SURINAM TOAD HATCHING YOUNG 
(Pipa pipa ). Length: 5 inches. Range: Brazil, 
Guianas and Trinidad. 


227 




may number several dozen. This denizen of the waters of northern Brazil 
and the Guianas is toothless as well as tongueless; she could not, by any 
stretch of the imagination, be considered the least bit attractive. 

During the mating season, the usually silent male utters a metallic, 
ticking call, probably to attract the female. When mother toad lays her 
eggs, father obligingly presses them from her long oviduct into pouches 
in her soft-skinned back. In this sanctuary, the eggs, protected from egg- 
eaters, develop until the fully-formed young poke out heads and hands, 
giving the appearance of a crowded school bus. After birth the female 
rubs the skin, with its shiny, hardened pouch lids, off her back. 

The Surinam toad’s grotesque, flat head is not at all beautified by the 
two round-pupilled eyes which seem tacked on like tiny pellets. Its rather 
graceful forelegs have fingers ending in star-shaped discs; its large, 
broadly webbed hind legs enable the toad to move rapidly. The skin is 
dark brown above, whitish on the underparts. 

Slime glands cover the entire surface of its body. There are also 
four rows of large poison glands as well as smaller poison glands scat¬ 
tered throughout the skin. 


CLAWED TOAD 


The clawed toad, related to the Surinam, darts about in the pools of 
tropical Africa. Its name was derived from the dark brown spikes extending 
from three toes on each foreleg. These claws enable the toad to grab the 
food which it shoves glutton-like into its mouth. The hind legs, broadly 
webbed, swiftly propel the toad as it searches for its dinner or escapes 
a foe. 

In August, during the mating season, the male utters a scarcely audi¬ 
ble “tick tick.” 

Soon after the eggs are laid they are attached to stones or water plants 
where they swell to double their original size. Several days after hatching, 
the larvae develop long tentacles, which give the toad the ludicrous ap¬ 
pearance of a miniature sea lion with enormous tusks. However, as the 
toad grows, the tentacles shorten to a more proportionate size. 

228 






|M| 


(NZP) IV. Lincoln Highton, Works Progress Administration. 

CLAWED TOAD (Xenopus laevis). Length: 3 inches. Range: Tropical Africa. 







The clawed toad attains a length of three inches. Its smooth skin is 
covered with tubelike structures, said to have sensory functions. The upper 
parts are colored an olive-brown; the stomach is whitish and sometimes 
spotted with brown. 

Only such calamities as the drying up of a pool or a shortage of food 
will compel the clawed toad to leave the water. 

In captivity the clawed toad proves its hardiness, requiring no special 
temperature arrangement. It eagerly pounces upon the worms and bits 
of meat which are fed to it. 

In one South African hospital physicians use these toads in preg¬ 
nancy tests. 


SPADE-FOOT TOADS 


When first unearthed, the burrowing spade-foot, or hermit toad, looks like 
a small ball of brown earth. But then it expels the air from its lungs and 
the deflated sides collapse like a punctured balloon. Two elevations appear 
at the smaller end and become discernible as round, staring eyes of bril¬ 
liant gold. Awkward hands are lifted, one at a time, and rubbed over the 
eyes. 

Awake and alert after this lazy operation, the hermit toad begins to 
consider escape. It neither plays dead nor makes sudden leaps but, if per¬ 
mitted, simply begins sinking out of sight into the soft earth until it finally 
disappears. Its disappearing act is no miracle; it is the work of two efficient, 
spadelike hind legs which may dig the little creature as far down as three 
feet below the surface. 

The recluse generally burrows a six-inch hole in which it leads a 
lonely life. Only during the breeding season does it venture forth, the 
males calling in a loud chorus and the females responding in low grunts. 

Instinctively, the young toad emerging from the tadpole stage begins 
burrowing in the ground. In fact, if it is unable to get out of the water 
after reaching maturity, it drowns. 

The hermit spade-foot is green, yellow or ashy brown, and may have 

230 


New York Zoological Society. 

SPADE-FOOT TOADS (Scaphiopus holbrooki). Length: 3 inches. Range: Parts of 
southern and eastern United States. 



W. Lincoln Ilighton, Works Progress Administration. 


(NZF) 


CUBAN TOAD (Bufo 
peltacephalus ). 
Length: 4% inches. 
Range: Cuba. 








a curved yellow line extending backward from each eye. The undersides are 
a dingy white, turning purplish at the posterior parts. This lonely animal 
is found throughout all of eastern North America. 

A Central European relative acts much the same, but burrows in sandy 
soil, leaving no trace of its work since the loose sand fills up the hole as it 
digs. Some specimens are adorned with red spots. 

When captured, it utters a shrill, startling cry and the skin is quickly 
covered with a secretion smelling like garlic. Consequently, in Germany, 
it is known as “garlic toad.” Tame individuals soon learn enough manners 
to stop emitting the offensive fluid. 


TRUE TOADS 


“Sweet are the uses of adversity, 

Which like the toad, ugly and venomous, 
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.” 


COMMON TOAD 


The hoptoad, with sparkling eyes of gold and black, is the best known 
toad in the United States. The beauty of its jewel-like orbs, a toad char¬ 
acteristic immortalized by Shakespeare, is more than balanced by its dark, 
unattractive body, covered with warts. But it must be said in all fairness 
that this maligned animal keeps its warts and does not, under any cir¬ 
cumstances, pass them on to boys who play with toads. 

A discriminating eater, it will feed only upon moving things. Thus 
it is probably the most useful of all frogs and toads since it hops about 
farm lands and gardens, destroying such pests as ants, potato bugs and 
worms. 

It is protected by a changing coloration, the ability to “play ’possum” 
rather convincingly, and the secretion of a milky fluid irritating to the 
mucous membranes of man and other animals. 

Records show that at least one of these olive-green toads has lived 
to the ripe old age of thirty-six. 


232 


(NYA) Ralph De Sola, Federal Writers' Project. 

MARINE TOAD (Bufo marinus). Length: 6 inches. Range: Tropical America to 
southern Texas. 



H. L. Stecher. 


AMERICAN TOAD 
(Bufo americanus ). 
Length: 3 inches. 
Range: United States 
and Canada east of 
the Rockies. 




MARINE TOAD 


In tropical America the marine toad squats quietly in a puddle or among 
dense vegetation and calmly swallows insects at a breath-taking rate. One 
observer credits it with gobbling up fifty-two mosquitoes in one minute, 
probably a record for the entire animal kingdom. 

It is sometimes called the giant toad, but its six-inch length makes 
it a colossus only in comparison with the related garden toads. The brown 
skin on its back is quite warty and splotched with black. 

The marine toad, despite its misleading name, is not a seafarer but 
is found inland. It was accorded the label because Linnaeus happened to 
receive one specimen from a tropical American beach and concluded, 
erroneously, that it lived in the sea. 


HORNED TOAD 

Probably the most belligerent of all toads, the horned toad, is an excellent 
hunter, capturing and slowly devouring birds, rodents and frogs of com¬ 
paratively large size. When two horned toads are shipped together in a 
box, it is not at all uncommon for the smaller one to arrive inside the 
larger. As might be expected, this voracious creature is very ill-tempered 
and will unhesitatingly nip a finger quite severely. 

Also known as the horned frog and barking toad, it owes its popular 
name to the peculiar three-cornered projection above the eye. However, 
this “horn” is a flexible skin growth and not horny. 

It shows a striking color combination. Its green and yellow skin is 
punctuated with dark green spots, large on the back and smaller on the 
sides and limbs. Yellow and white dots, and some red or brown lines, 
round out the color pattern, which seems of protective value in the tall 
pampas grasses of Uruguay, Paraguay and northern Argentina. 

When not in hiding under grass or creepers, the horned toad partly 
digs itself into the ground and tosses bits of earth on its hard back. 

The species should not be confused with the horned “toad,” a lizard 
described in an earlier chapter. 


234 


New York Zoological Society. 

GREEN TREE FROG (Hyla cinerea). Length: 2 inches. Range: Southeastern United 
States. 


TREE FROGS 


Tree frogs are renowned for their loud but not unpleasant trillings, which 
keep country nights alive with sound. The grooved and sticky pads on their 
feet enable them to perch effectively on the branches and leaves of trees. 
Virtually all of the one hundred and fifty species of the tree frog family 
are either American or Australian, but a few varieties are distributed in 
other parts of the globe according to Noble’s Biology of the Amphibia. 

The misnamed European tree frog is found in Asia as well as Europe. 
Its smooth, shiny back is grass-green, and the granular underparts are 
yellowish-white, turning pinkish on the thighs. When a fly or other insect 
settles within sight, this frog will leap fearlessly after its prey from any 
height, breaking its fall by grasping at leaves. The giant of tree frogs is a 
Haitian variety, which often reaches five inches in length. 

235 



A unique method of egg protection has been evolved in many Old 
World tree frogs. The spawn are usually suspended above the water and 
then whipped into a foam with the hind legs. Thus air is beaten into the 
egg mass to supply the embryo with oxygen, since the surface of the foam 
develops a protective crust. When the eggs hatch, the tadpoles easily slide 
into the water. 

Tree frogs are not considered very intelligent members of their order. 
However, they are famed as weather prophets, and farmfolk are familiar 
with their lively chirpings which precede rainy weather. 


TYPICAL FROGS 


Frogs are versatile little creatures, a short survey of their accomplish¬ 
ments reveals. King of all frogs is the foot-long giant or goliath frog 
found in the sluggish streams of the Cameroons in West Africa. It can 
easily kill a large rat. Natives of the region prize the thigh bones of the 
giant for ceremonial purposes. 

The young of the Solomon Island frog undergo complete metamor¬ 
phosis within the egg and hop about as soon as they are hatched. In India 
the skating frog outdoes the fakir by jumping from the water, landing on 
the surface, and then taking off again. The Seychelles frog carries its dozen 
or so tadpoles on its back, to which they cling by means of their adhesive 
undersides. It is believed that they go through their entire development 
in this position. A skinny parachutist is the “flying” frog, which with its 
webbed hind and forelegs can glide safely from trees to the ground. 

The poison frog secretes a toxic substance which the Indians of South 
America use to poison arrows and dye parrot feathers. The latter turn 
green and yellow when rubbed on the frog’s back, which is spotted green, 
yellow and cherry. Despite its toxic effect on others, the poison frog is a 
good father to its tadpoles which it transports on “frog back” from the 
site where the eggs were laid to the nearest pool. Enlarged vocal sacs 
cover the entire undersurface of the male Darwin frogs and serve as 
an incubator for the larvae. The male picks up the eggs in his mouth and 

236 


H. L. Stecher. 


BULL FROG (Rana catesbeiana). Length: 8 inches. Range: Eastern United States. 


places them in the sac. The “hairy” frog is not a fiction but a very living 
native of Africa. The lower sides and thighs of the male are covered with 
tiny hairlike tubes resembling gills and serving the same function. 

Frogs have leaped their way into literature via Mark Twain’s story 
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. Now Calaveras County, 
California, holds yearly jumping events for frogs in commemoration of 
the story. “Zip,” the titleholder in 1938, soared through the air with the 
greatest of ease for a new record of fifteen feet, ten inches. 

One of the most common of Old World frogs is not unreasonably 
known as the common frog. It resides in temperate regions from England 
to Japan, and shows as many variations in markings and color as the num¬ 
ber of countries which it inhabits. The sexes are hardly distinguishable ex¬ 
cept in the breeding season, when the inner fingers of the males’ forelegs 
develop swollen pads and the webs on the hind legs grow considerably 
larger. 


237 



BULL FROG 


In May the bull frog emerges from a long winter rest to drown out the 
croaking of its feebler relatives with its booming note. In voice, as in size, 
it is the lord of North American frogdom, though its bulbous eyes also 
make it one of the stupidest-looking species. 

The bull frog inhabits pools and other suitable bodies of water, usually 
those choked with water weeds. Only in rainy weather will it leave its 
pool for cross-country trips. Though generally green or greenish-brown, it 
varies in color according to localities. In some regions the male has a 
yellow throat, while in others the throat is the usual drab color; the under¬ 
parts are sometimes white and sometimes spotted. Though a powerful 
swimmer, the bull frog can swim only short distances at a time, perhaps 
as its habit of rolling its eyes downward when in motion prevents it 
from seeing. On a long trip the frog stops at regular intervals to open its 
eyes and take bearings. The hind legs propel it through the water with 
a sort of back kick. When attracted by some juicy crayfish, the bull frog 
expels the air from its lungs and dives with closed nostrils. 

Though easily prompted to song by pleasing sounds, it is a strict 
individualist and declines membership in any chorus. The female is said 
not to croak. 

This goggle-eyed amphibian spends its leisure hours floating among 
the pond lilies or perching on logs. On land it breathes in gulps as if 
swallowing a bulky object. In addition to crayfishes the frog eats snails, 
minnows, insects, small snakes, small birds and its own young, either in 
the form of tadpoles or baby frogs. The bull frog’s chief enemies are 
snakes and large birds. When one is seized by a hawk, its scream of anguish 
sounds almost human. 

May or June is bull frog breeding season. The eggs hatch out soon 
after they are laid, but in northern regions the tadpoles require two or 
three seasons to develop into mature frogs. The tadpoles are very large, 
sometimes reaching a length of seven inches. Large eyes, fleshy lips and 
muddy marbled markings emphasize their puffy aspect. Ranged along each 
side of the throat are three sets of internal gills, which are the sole breath¬ 
ing apparatus of young tadpoles. At a later stage the gills disappear and 

238 



American Museum of Natural History. 


MODEL OF GIANT FROG (Rana goliath). Length: 1 foot. Range: The Cameroons 
of Africa. 



THE HORNED FROG 
OR BARKING TOAD 
(Ceratophrys ornata), 
belongs to the toad 
family and is de¬ 
scribed in this chap¬ 
ter as the horned 
toad. It is found in 
Brazil and Argentina, 
where it attains a 
length of seven inches. 


New York Zoological Society. 








are replaced by lungs. Arms, with elbows showing first, push out of the 
breathing pore. For a while the tadpoles are entirely dependent for loco¬ 
motion on their long tails which quickly grow again if an enemy, such as 
the diving beetle, performs an amputation. Later the tail gradually dis¬ 
appears to he replaced by powerful hind legs. 

The southern bull frog scarcely deserves its name, for its croak most 
closely resembles a pig’s grunt. It grows to a length of from four to five 
inches, and is colored lustrous yellow-greens and browns. Its eyes are set 
close together in its long head. It ranges from Louisiana to Florida and 
southern Georgia. 


LEOPARD FROG 

Though less publicized than the bull frog, the leopard frog is the most 
common of North American species. It owes its name to its coloring and 
markings rather than to any unusual agility or ferocity. Two bronze or 
yellow folds of skin run almost parallel from the frog’s eyes to its pos¬ 
terior; between them are rows of brown or olive-green spots, each encircled 
by a fine yellow or white line. 

Now and then the leopard frog leaves its pond for a trip overland. 
If surprised, it squirts forth a foul-smelling liquid at its assailant, and 
will stage a determined fight for freedom. When captured, however, it 
soon grows resigned and, as a rule, songful. Its rather pleasing sound is 
produced by vocal pouches, which swell up behind and under the ears. 
When collapsed, the skin of these pouches is crinkled and baggy. 

The leopard frog accomplishes its frequent skin changes with quite a 
ceremony. First the skin splits over the back of the head, and the front 
feet are used to draw it over the eyes. During this first stage the frog sits 
with its back buckled high. Once the skin is over the back, it must be kicked 
off the hind legs. This is accomplished by stretching the legs arduously 
back and forth until the skin is brushed off. 

The southern leopard frog is considered the most beautiful frog of 
America; it shows its aristocratic breeding by refusing to mate with 
the ordinary leopard frog, which often shares its habitat. Easily distin¬ 
guished from the leopard frog by its intense metallic green and brown 

240 


mixtures, the southern leopard frog can also be recognized by its long, 
gracefully pointed head and a circular white spot at the center of the ear. 
Dark green or brown spots cover the bullet-shaped body. 

PICKEREL FROG 

The agile American pickerel frog does not resemble the pickerel, but is 
used as a bait to lure that tasty fish. An unpleasant skin secretion prevents 
the frog from being eaten by man, and it appears to be poisonous to other 
frogs, for when other varieties are confined with it, they usually die. This 
frog spends most of its time on land and is often confused with the leopard 
frog because of its spots, which, however, are square and without yellow 
margins. The young pickerel frog sheds its skin even before the stub of 
its tadpole’s tail has entirely disappeared. In the sunlight the young are 
a lustrous bronze color, but when emerging from the water, they can 
scarcely be distinguished from the mud. 


WOOD FROG 

The eastern wood frog is unique in its ability to turn in mid-air, so that 
on landing from its long leap, it faces its enemy. Sometimes each of this 
frog’s eggs is surrounded by a green jelly, composed of microscopic plants 
which feed on the carbon dioxide given off by the embryo and in turn 
supply it with oxygen. Of all American frogs this is the most terrestrial. 
Its excellent protective coloration makes it hard to locate, but once detected 
it is easily identified by its dark brown or black cheek patches with a yellow- 
gold line running along the sides of the upper jaw to the shoulder. 

GREEN FROG 


Visitors to American ponds are often surprised by green frogs which jump 
into the water, seemingly from nowhere, uttering a deep jurg as they land. 
These familiar, metallic-green frogs are almost entirely aquatic. They shed 
their skin four to five times a year, and if the process takes place on land, 
they swallow the skin. 


241 


GOPHER FROG 


The Florida gopher frog looks like a toad, and likes to eat toads. More¬ 
over it is not affected by the poisons of its fellow amphibian, which it 
ejects as soon as the prey is swallowed. Sitting at the edge of the gopher 
tortoise’s hole, whence comes its name, this frog awaits its prey and at the 
same time keeps a lookout for its enemies. In time of danger it disappears 
into its ready-made refuge and can be captured only by being dug out. 
The gopher frog exhibits color schemes ranging from gray-brown to yellow- 
purple; it has bulging eyes and a large head and mouth. 


WESTERN FROGS 


California and the far West boast some of the most lavishly colored frogs 
in the land. One of these studied by Dr. T. I. Storer is the red-legged frog. 
It is considered most delectable eating. This aquatic species, although it is 
said by Dickerson to take eight years to become fully grown, never manages 
to lose its awkward gait on land. The western frog also has red underparts 
which, however, are not visible unless the frog is turned over. Like many 
other varieties this one, when held with feet unsupported, becomes very 
talkative. Another Californian, the two-inch, yellow-legged frog appears 
more like a toad than a frog, because its skin is covered with small warts. 


NORTHERN FROG 


Rarely mentioned, the northern frog is considered the probable link 
between the genus Raua and some lower forms. This frog prefers rivers to 
ponds and is sometimes known as the mink frog because of its mink-like 
scent. Also called the Hoosier frog, it is found through northern New Eng¬ 
land and New York, westward to Minnesota and as far north in Canada as 
the southern shores of Hudson Bay. 

242 


INDEX 







































INDEX 


adder, puff, 150 
African monitor, 78 
African rock python, 110 
agamas, 53, 90 
Agama stellio, 92 
albino rattlesnake, 159 
albino tortoise, 195 
alligator, American, 24 
alligator, Chinese, 30 
alligators, 24 

alligator snapping turtle, 170 
alligator tegu, 69 
Ambystoma talpoideum, 218 
American alligator, 24 
American “chameleon,” 96 
American crocodile, 41 
American salamanders, 216 
American toad, 233 
AMPHIBIA , 206 
Amphibians, 205 
amphibians, tailed, 213 
amphibians, tailless, 223 
amphibians, worm-like, 209 
amphisbaenas, 70 
amphisbaenids, Moroccan, 73 
anacondas, 111 

anaconda, South American, 111 


aniellids, 71 
anole, Cuban, 96 
anoles, 96 

Arizona night lizard, 57 
armed lizard, 93 
Asiatic giant salamander, 215 
Asiatic land salamanders, 214 
Australian black snake, 142 
Australian gecko, 55 
Australian snake-necked turtle, 200 
Australian stump-tailed skink, 59, 60 
axolotls, 215 

babilla, 32 

ball python, 109 

banded krait, 141 

barba armarilla, 148 

barking toad, 239 

basilisks, 89 

Batagur turtle, 164 

batrachians (see amphibians), 205 

beaded lizard, Mexican, 80 

bis cobra, 76 

black cayman, 32 

black snake, 120 

black snake, Australian, 142 

blind salamanders, 220 


245 


blind snakes, 106 
“bloodsucker” lizard, 90 
boa, common, 111 
boa, Cuban, 112 
boa, rubber, 113 
boas, 111 
boa, sand, 112 
boomslang, 130 
box turtles, 181 
brown skink, 61 
bull frog, 238 
bushmaster, 152 

cascabela muda, 152 
CAUDATA, 206 
cayman, black, 32 
cayman, Central American, 32 
caymans, 32 
cayman, spectacled, 33 
Central American cayman, 32 
“chameleon” American, 96 
chameleon, common, 95 
chameleon, horned, 97 
chameleons, 53, 94 
CHELON1A, 18 
Chinese alligator, 30 
Chrysopelea ornata, 132 
clawed toad, 228 
coachwhip snake, 126 
cobra, Indian, 136 
cobra, king, 134 
cobra, ringhals, 130 
cobras, spitting, 138 
coecilians, 209, 211 


collared lizard, 89 
common boa, 111 
common iguana, 86 
common lizard, 64 
common toad, 232 
“Congo eel,” 218 
“Congo snake,” 218 
constrictors, 100, 108, 111 
copperhead, 144 
coral snakes, 141, 143 
cottonmouth moccasin, 146 
crocodile, American, 41 
crocodile, Nile, 34 
crocodile, Orinoco, 40 
crocodiles, 34 
crocodile, salt-water, 38 
crocodile, swamp, 40 
CROCODILIA, 18 
Crocodilians: 

-alligators , 24 
-caymans, 32 
-crocodiles, 34 
-description of order, 21 
-gavials, 42 
Cuban anole, 96 
Cuban boa, 112 
Cuban racer, 127 
Cuban toad, 231 

Dermophis, 210 
desert skinks, 61 
desert tortoise, 193 
diamond-back rattlesnake, 155 
diamond-back terrapin, 179 


246 


“dragon, flying,” 90 
dragon, Komodo, 77 

earthsnakes, rough-tailed, 107 

East African soft-shelled tortoise, 194 

eastern wood frog, 241 

East Indian red snake, 127 

“eels, Congo,” 218 

egg-eating snake, 124 

Egyptian skink, 62 

eiervreter, 124 

eyed lizard, 68 

fer-de-lance, 148 
fire-bellied toad, 224 
five-lined skink, 58 
Florida gopher frog, 242 
“flying dragon,” 90 
flying snakes, 132 
Frogs and Toads: 

-description of order, 223 
-primitive toads, 224 
-spade-foot toads, 230 
—tongueless toads, 226 
-tree frogs, 235 
-true toads, 232 
-typical frogs, 236 
frog, bull, 238 
frog, eastern wood, 241 
frog, Florida gopher, 242 
frog, giant, 239 
frog, green, 241 
frog, green tree, 235 
frog, horned, 239 


frog, leopard, 240 
frog, northern, 242 
frog, pickerel, 241 
frogs, tree, 235 
frogs, typical, 236 
frogs, western, 242 

front-fanged poisonous snakes, 101, 
134 

Gaboon viper, 152 
Galapagos land iguana, 83 
Galapagos marine iguana, 82 
Galapagos tortoise, 187 
garter snakes, 114 
gavial, Indian, 42 
gavial, Malayan, 43 
gavials, 42 
gecko, Australian, 55 
gecko, Mauritanian, 55 
geckos, 51, 54 
gharial, 42 
gharial, false, 43 
giant frog, 239 
giant salamanders, 214 
giant tortoise, 186 
Gila monster, 80 
“glass snake,” 71, 72 
gopher frog, Florida, 242 
gopher snake, 124 
gopher tortoise, 192 
Greek tortoise, 194 
green frog, 241 
green lizard, 65, 66 
green tree frog, 235 


247 


green turtle, 197 
GYMNOPHIONA, 206 


Komodo monitor, 77 
kraits, 140, 141 


harlequin snake, 143 
harmless snakes, 100, 114 
hawksbill turtle, 198 
Heloderma horridum, 80 
Heloderma suspectum, 80 
hog-nosed snake, 118 
horned chameleon, 97 
horned frog, 239 
horned toad, 234 
horned “toads,” 88 


Ichthyophis glutinosus, 210 
iguana, common, 86 
iguana, Galapagos land, 83 
iguana, Galapagos marine, 82 
iguana, rhinoceros, 84 
iguanas, 82 

iguanas, Turks Islands, 87 
Indian cobra, 136 
Indian crocodile, 40 
Indian gavial, 42 
Indian mugger, 40 
Indian python, 110 
indigo snake, 125 


kabara goya, 74 
Kemp’s turtle, 199 
king cobra, 134 
king snake, 120 
Komodo dragon, 77 


LACERTILIA, 18 
land iguana, Galapagos, 83 
land monitor, 76 
land tortoises, 186 
leopard frog, 240 
leprous turtle, 178 
lizard, armed, 93 
lizard, beaded, 80 
lizard, “bloodsucker,” 90 
lizard, collared, 89 
lizard, common, 64 
lizard, eyed, 68 
lizard, green, 65, 66 
lizard, Iberian worm, 73 
lizard, Mexican beaded, 80 
lizard, night, 57 
Lizards: 

-agamas, 53, 90 
-chameleons, 53, 94 
—description of order, 51 
-geckos, 51, 54 
-iguanas, 53, 82 
—monitors, 53, 74 

-Old and New World lizards, 51, 
64 

-poisonous lizards, 53, 80 
-skinks, 51, 58 
-worm-like lizards, 53, 70 
lizard, sand, 64 
lizards, New World, 68 
lizards, Old World, 57 


248 


lizards, poisonous, 53, 80 
lizards, spiny, 87 
lizards, spiny-tailed, 92 
lizards, worm-like, 53, 70, 73 
lizard, wall, 66 
long-nosed tree snake, 133 
lyre snake, 131 

Malayan gavial, 43 
mambas, 140 
mangrove snake, 133 
marine iguana, Galapagos, 82 
marine toad, 234 
mastigures, 93 
matamata, 200 
Mauritanian gecko, 55 
Mexican beaded lizard, 80 
midwife toad, 226 
moccasin, water, 146 
Moloch horridus , 53 
monitor, African, 78 
monitor, Komodo, 77 
monitor, land, 76 
monitor, Nile, 77 
monitors, 53, 74 
monitor, water, 74 
monkey-tailed skink, 63 
Moroccan amphisbaenids, 73 
movable-fanged poisonous snakes, 101, 
144 

mud puppy, 219 
mud turtle, 174 
mugger, Indian, 40 
musk turtle, 172 


mussurana, 132 

Necturus, 220 
newts, 218 
newt, spotted, 217 
New World lizards, 68 
Nile crocodile, 34 
Nile monitor, 77 
northern frog, 242 

Old World lizards, 64 
OPHIDIA, 18 
Orinoco crocodile, 40 

painted turtle, 176 
pickerel frog, 241 
poisonous lizards, 53, 80 
poisonous snakes, front-fanged, 101, 
134 

poisonous snakes, movable-fanged, 101, 
144 

poisonous snakes, rear-fanged, 100, 130 

pond turtles, 164 

prairie rattlesnake, 159 

primitive toads, 224 

proteans, 220 

Proteus, 220 

puff adder, 150 

python, African rock, 110 

python, ball, 109 

python, Indian, 110 

python, regal, 108 

python, royal, 109 

pythons, 108 


249 


racer, Cuban, 127 

rattlesnake, albino, 159 

rattlesnake, diamond-back, 155 

rattlesnake, prairie, 159 

rattlesnakes, 154 

rattlesnake, sidewinder, 157 

rear-fanged poisonous snakes, 100, 130 

red snake, 127 

regal python, 108 

Reptiles, 15 

KEPT ILIA, 17 

rhinoceros iguana, 84 

RHYNCHOCEPHALIA, 18 

ribbon snakes, 116 

ringed sea snake, 129 

ringhals cobra, 130 

river snake, South American, 127 

rough-tailed earthsnakes, 107 

royal python, 109 

rubber boa, 113 

Russell’s viper, 148 

salamander, Asiatic giant, 214 
salamanders, American, 216 
Salamanders and Newts: 

-American salamanders, 216 
-blind salamanders, 220 
—“Congo eels ” 218 
-description of order, 213 
-giant salamanders, 214 
-newts, 218 
-proteans, 220 
-sirens, 221 

salamanders, blind, 220 


salamanders, giant, 214 

SALIENTIA, 206 

salt-water crocodile, 38 

sand boa, 112 

sand lizard, 64 

sandnatter, 152 

sea snake, ringed, 129 

sea snakes, 100, 128 

sea snake, yellow-bellied, 129 

sea turtles, 196 

shaapsteker, 130 

sidewinder rattlesnake, 157 

Siphonops, 210 

siren, 221 

skink, Australian stump-tailed, 59, 60 

skink, brown, 61 

skink, Egyptian, 62 

skink, five-lined, 58 

skink, monkey-tailed, 63 

skinks, 51, 58 

skinks, desert, 61 

skink, stump-tailed, 60 

slider turtles, 177 

snake, Australian black, 142 

snake-bite, 101 

snake, black, 120 

snake, coachwhip, 126 

snake, common water, 122 

snake, egg-eating, 124 

“snake, glass,” 71, 72 

snake, gopher, 124 

snake, hog-nosed, 118 

snake, king, 120 

snake, lyre, 131 


250 


snake, mangrove, 133 
snake-necked turtle, Australian, 200 
snake-necked turtles, 200 
snake, red, 127 
Snakes: 

—constrictors , 100, 108, 111 
-description of order , 99 
-front-fanged poisonous snakes , 

101, 134 

-harmless snakes , 100, 114 
-movable-fanged poisonous snakes, 
101, 144 

—rear-fanged poisonous snakes, 

100, 130 

-sea snakes, 100, 128 
-worm-like snakes, 99, 106, 107 
snakes, blind, 106 
snakes, coral, 141, 143 
snakes, flying, 132 
snakes, garter, 114 
snakes, harmless, 100, 114 
snake, South American river, 127 
snakes, ribbon, 116 
snakes, sea, 100, 128, 129 
snakes, tree, 114 
snakes, worm-like, 99, 106, 107 
snake, tiger, 142 
snake, water, 122 
snapping turtle, alligator, 170 
snapping turtle, common, 166 
snapping turtles, 166 
soft-shelled tortoise, East African, 194 
soft-shelled turtles, 202 
South American anaconda, 111 


South American river snake, 127 

South American tegu, 67 

South American albino tortoise, 195 

spade-foot toads, 230 

spectacled cayman, 33 

spiny lizards, 87 

spiny-tailed lizards, 92 

spitting cobras, 138 

spotted newt, 217 

spotted turtle, 178 

SQUAMATA, 18 

stump-tailed skink, Australian, 59, 60 
Surinam toad, 226 
swamp crocodile, 40 

tailed amphibians, 213 
tailless amphibians, 223 
tegu, 68 

tegu, alligator, 69 
tegu, South American, 67 
terrapin, diamond-back, 179 
three-horned chameleon, 97 
tic polonga, 148 
tiger snake, 142 
toad, American, 233 
toad, barking, 239 
toad, clawed, 228 
toad, common, 232 
toad, Cuban, 231 
toad, fire-bellied, 224 
toad, horned, 234 
toad, marine, 234 
toad, midwife, 226 
“toads,” horned, 88 


251 


toads, primitive, 224 

toads, spade-foot, 230 

toads, tongueless, 226 

toads, true, 232 

toad, Surinam, 226 

tomigoff, 148 

tongueless toads, 226 

tortoise, desert, 193 

tortoise, East African soft-shelled, 194 

tortoise, Galapagos, 187 

tortoise, giant, 186 

tortoise, gopher, 192 

tortoise, Greek, 194 

tortoises, 186 

tortoise, soft-shelled East African, 194 

tortoise, South American albino, 195 

tree frogs, 235 

tree snakes, 114, 133 

true toads, 232 

trunkback turtle, 196 

Tuatara: 

-description of order, 45 

-the tuatara, 45 
Turks Islands iguanas, 87 
turtle, alligator snapping, 170 
turtle, Australian snake-necked, 200 
turtle, Batagur, 164 
turtle, common snapping, 166 
turtle, green, 197 
turtle, hawksbill, 198 
turtle, leprous, 178 
turtle, mud, 174 
turtle, musk, 172 
turtle, painted, 176 


T urtles: 

-description of order, 161 
-mud turtles and musk turtles, 
164 

-sea turtles, 164 
-snake-necked turtles, 164 
-snapping turtles, 164 
-soft-shelled turtles, 165 
-tortoises, 164 
-water turtles, 164 
turtles, box, 181 
turtles, sea, 196 
turtles, slider, 177 
turtles, snake-necked, 200 
turtles, snapping, 166 
turtles, soft-shelled, 202 
turtle, spotted, 178 
turtles, water, 176 
turtle, trunkback, 196 
Typhlonectes, 210 
Typhlotriton, 220 
typical frogs, 236 

Varanus exanthematicus, 78 
viper, Gaboon, 152 
viper, Russell’s, 148 
vipers, 101 

wall lizard, 66 
“water dog,” 220 

water moccasin, cottonmouth, 146 
water monitor, 74 
water snake, 122 
water turtles, 176 
western frogs, 242 


252 


wood frog, eastern, 241 
Worm-like Amphibians: 
-coecilians, 209 
-description of order , 209 


worm-like lizards, 53, 70, 73 
worm-like snakes, 99, 106, 107 

yellow-bellied sea snake, 129 


253 






































































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